North Haven Connecticut Plane Crash | New England Aviation History

North Haven, CT. – July 6, 1943

January 4, 2021

North Haven, Connecticut – July 6, 1943

P-47B Thunderbolt
U.S. Air Force Photo

On the morning of July 6, 1943, Lieutenant George Sutcliffe took off from Westover Air Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts, in a P-47 B Thunderbolt, (Ser. No. 41-6013) for what was to be a routine training flight. Just after 11:30 a.m. while passing over the town of North Haven, Connecticut, he was forced to bail out. He landed safely while his aircraft crashed and burned in a vacant area off Hartford Turnpike. Nobody on the ground was injured.

Click here for more information about Lt. Sutcliff.

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/george-sutcliffe-obituary?pid=147991329

Sources:

Information supplied by Lawrence Webster, Aircraft Archeologist and Historian, of the former Quonset Air Museum

North Haven Volunteer Fire Company report dated July 6, 1943.

Hartford Courant, “Crash Sites All But Forgotten”, by David K. Leff, November 21, 2010

Filed Under: Connecticut - Military Tagged With: Connecticut WWII Plane Crash, Lieutenant George Sutcliffe Smithfield R. I., New England WWII Plane Crash, North Haven Connecticut Plane Crash, P-47 Thunderbolt Ser. No. 41-6013

North Haven, CT – October 2, 1932

January 9, 2016

North Haven, Connecticut – October 2, 1932

On October 2, 1932, a Stinson Junior monoplane with four people aboard crashed on the edge of a pasture in North Haven, just north of Clintonville Road. (Today Route 22) The plane had taken off from New Haven Airport shortly before.

Three of the four persons aboard were killed. The dead were identified as (Pilot) George A. Smith, 29, and his brother Lester, 23, and Mrs. Beatie Russner, 25, of East Have, Connecticut. Mrs. Russner’s brother, John A. Hood, 28, of West Haven, survived.

Source:

New York Times, “3 Men And Woman Die When Plane Crashes”, October 3, 1932

Filed Under: Connecticut – Civil Tagged With: Beatie Russner, Connecticut Aviation Accident, George A. Smith, John A. Hood, Lester Smith, North Haven Connecticut Plane Crash

North Haven, CT – July 7, 1941

September 15, 2015

North Haven, Connecticut – July 7, 1941

Updated January 17, 2022

On July 7, 1941, a Stinson monoplane with three people aboard took off from New Haven Municipal Airport. Weather conditions were poor, with heavy fog and a very low cloud ceiling. Minutes later, witnesses stated the craft swooped low roughly 50 feet off the ground and flew between two trees at the edge of a field, before accelerating and clipping a wing on another tree 250 feet away. After striking the tree, the ship nosed into the ground and burst into flames.

The 35-year-old pilot and one of the passengers were thrown clear by the impact but received fatal injuries. The other passenger was pulled from the flaming wreckage by several men who were working nearby, but she did not survive.

It was surmised that the pilot was attempting to land in the field when he aborted the attempt due to rough terrain.

Sources:

Nashua Telegraph, “Three Killed, North Haven Plane Crash”, July 7, 1941, page 1

New York Times, “Air Commuter Killed With Two In Crash”, July 8, 1941

The Waterbury Evening Democrat, “Manufacturer OF New Haven, Pilot Of Burned Craft”, July 7, 1941

Filed Under: Connecticut – Civil Tagged With: Connecticut Aviation Accident, Connecticut Plane Crash, North Haven Connecticut History, North Haven Connecticut Plane Crash