Dudley, MA. – December 19, 1927

November 30, 2025

Dudley, Massachusetts – December, 19, 1927   

50th Anniversary Of U.S. Air Mail Service
Issued May 15, 1968

     On the evening of December 19, 1927, U. S. Air Mail pilot C. P. Oleson took off from Boston with a plane full of Christmas mail bound for Hartford, Connecticut.  While in route he encountered severe headwinds and turbulence which reportedly buffeted the plane about “like a feather”.  Realizing the danger, Olsen attempted to land the plane at Dudley Airport but crashed while doing so.  The plane came to rest upside down with considerable damage to it.  Olsen, however, was able to free himself from the wreckage and discovered he was unhurt. 

     Olsen then made his way to a nearby home where he asked to use the telephone.  The mail was brought to the Webster, Mass. post office. 

     The plane was owned by the Colonial Transport Company and was valued at $11,000.   It had only been in service four weeks at the time of the crash.   

     Source:

     Webster Evening Times, (Ma.), “Mail Plane Crashes At Landing Field At Dudley Last Night”, December 20, 1927

Filed Under: Massachusetts - Civil Tagged With: , , , , ,

Oxford, MA. – April 9, 1993

November 30, 2025

Oxford, Massachusetts – April 9, 1993

     On April 9, 1993, three men and a woman took off from Stratford, Connecticut, in a Piper 235, (N9349W), bound for Oxford, Massachusetts.  The plane landed safely at Oxford at 12:30 p.m., and the four people aboard went to a camper dealership on Route 20 in Oxford.  The group returned to the airport around 4:00 p.m. and made preparations to fly back to Connecticut. 

     At about 4:20 p.m. the aircraft took off with a tailwind and according to witnesses the plane appeared to lose power before banking to the left and crashing to the ground where it exploded in a ball of fire killing all aboard.

     Sources:

     The Times, (Webster, MA.), “Tailwind Noted In Crash”, April 14, 1993.

     Aviation Safety Network 

Filed Under: Massachusetts - Civil Tagged With: , , , ,

Oxford, MA. – January 14, 2002

November 30, 2025

Oxford, Massachusetts – January 14, 2002

      On January 14, 2002, a lone pilot took off from the Lawrence (Ma.) Municipal Airport in a rented Piper Cherokee bound for the Southbridge (Ma.) Municipal Airport.   While in route he became lost, and mistook the airport in Oxford, Mass., to be his destination.  

     The Oxford Airport runway was reported to be 2,000 feet long; 1,500 feet shorter that the runway at Southbridge.  As the pilot landed at Oxford, he came to realize he didn’t have enough room to stop, so he tried to abort the landing, but the plane’s landing gear clipped some trees at the end of the runway causing it to crash up-side-down 500 feet into the woods.   The aircraft was severely damaged but the pilot suffered only minor injuries.     

     Source:

     The Webster Times, (Ma.), “Small Plane Crash Case Of Mistaken Identity”, January 16, 2002. 

Filed Under: Massachusetts - Civil Tagged With: , ,
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