Middleboro Massachusetts Plane Crash | New England Aviation History

Middleboro, MA. – September 19, 1935

June 10, 2026

Middleboro, Massachusetts – September 19, 1935

On the evening of September 19, 1935, a 27-year-old man took off from the Smithfield, Rhode Island, Airport in an open biplane for a round trip flight to Boston. The flight was to be a quick “joy ride”. On the way back from Boston darkness began closing in and the pilot lost his way. As he circled low he saw an open field and decided to land. Due to fading light he crash-landed and the plane was badly damaged, but the pilot was not injured.

Source:

Providence Journal, “Wilfred Paille, Seekonk, Forced To Land Biplane”, September 20, 1935, Pg. 3.

Middleboro, MA – May 25, 1998

June 28, 2016

Middleboro, Massachusetts – May 25, 1998

On May 25, 1998, David J. LaCroix, 60, of Taunton, and George A. Stedman Jr., 46, of Brockton, both members of the Brockton Civil Air Patrol, were taking part in a four hour C.A.P. training exercise near the Taunton Municipal Airport when their single-engine Cessna 182 aircraft suddenly experienced mechanical difficulty and crashed in a thickly wooded area of the town of Middleboro. Neither man survived.

Both were long time members of the Civil Air Patrol with 6,100 hours of flight time between them.

Witnesses reported that just before the crash they heard the plane’s engine fade, and then “wail loudly” before quitting all together.

On May 22, just two days before the crash, Mr. LaCroix had flown the very same plane on a search and rescue mission looking for a downed Piper Aero which had crashed in the town of Lincoln, Massachusetts. In that accident a man and his 5-year-old son were killed.

Source:

Providence Journal, “2 Killed In Mass. Crash Were Experienced Pilots”, May 27, 1998