Nashua, N. H. – June 5, 1936

Nashua, New Hampshire – June 5, 1936

     On the early morning of June 5, 1936, a 24-year-old pilot took off from Nashua Airport in a two-cockpit Command-Aire bi-plane for a solo flight.  He later returned to the airport shortly before 7 a.m. and attempted to land.  According to a witness, the aircraft appeared to overshoot the landing field and the pilot gunned the engine in an attempt to go around for another try.  As he did so the engine stalled, and the aircraft nosed over and crashed, and came to rest on its back pinning the pilot inside. 

     Two men who witnessed the accident rushed to the scene and after shutting off the ignition, pulled the pilot from the wreckage.  The pilot was transported to Memorial Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on June 8. 

     The pilot was a student pilot who was attempting to log enough solo hours to get his license.  

     This accident was reported to be “the first serious crash” at the Nashua Airport since establishment of the field.  

     Source: The Nashua Telegraph, “Nashua Aviator Near Death In Airport Crackup”, June 5, 1936, page 1.  

 

Nashua, NH. – May 28, 1948

Nashua, New Hampshire – May 28, 1948

     At about 12:30 p.m. on the afternoon of May 28, 1948, a 40-year-old Nashua man took off from Boire Airfield in Nashua in a small monoplane.  The reason for the flight was not stated in the press, however, shortly after takeoff something went wrong, and the plane crashed in the front yard of a home on Perry Avenue, and the pilot was killed instantly.

     The owner of the home told reporters that just before the accident, she and her 10-year-old son observed the plane circling overhead as if it were in trouble.  She and her son then began walking down the street to take him back to school, and a few moments later the plane crashed in her front yard.  Neither of them was hurt.   

     Prior to crashing in the front yard, the plane had careened off a neighbor’s roof tearing away some of the slate shingles.  

     The Reverend Leo Gilbert of St. Louis de Gonzague parish administered last rites to the pilot.     

     Source: The Nashua Telegraph, “Body Hurled To Porch As Plane Hits Perry Avenue”, May 28, 1948, page 1 

Nashua, N.H. – February 8, 1940

Nashua, New Hampshire – February 8, 1940 

     On the afternoon of February 8, 1940, a “six-passenger cabin-type” airplane left Boston Airport with a pilot and three passengers aboard.  The flight was bound for Nashua, where the pilot expected to pick up his wife and return to Boston.  While in route, the aircraft’s motor began to run erratically and the pilot began searching for a place to land.  However, the problem then corrected itself, and the pilot continued towards the Nashua Municipal Airport.  As  the aircraft was making its approach the engine suddenly lost all power.  Realizing he couldn’t make the airport, he retracted the wheels and made an emergency crash-landing on the Bullard Farm a short distance from the airport.  

     Upon hitting the ground the aircraft skidded across an open field taking down several small trees and crashing into a stone wall.  There was no fire afterward.  Witnesses to the crash, which included the pilot’s wife, raced to the scene.  The pilot and one of the passengers suffered serious head injuries, from which it was believed they would recover from.  The other two passengers where only slightly hurt. 

     The cause of the crash was presumed to be carburetor icing.    

      Source:

     The Nashua Telegram, “Airplane Crash Blame Is Places Upon Carburetor”, February 9, 1940, page 1. 

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