From the Fort Fairfield Review, August 26, 1903.
Mapleton, ME. – September 13, 1931
July 5, 2020
Mapleton, Maine – September 13, 1931
On the morning of September 13, 1931, an instructor and student pilot took off from the Presque Isle Airport in a dual-control Waco 10 airplane. The instructor sat in the front cockpit and his student in the back cockpit. The pair then began practicing take-offs and landings. After completing three successful landings, the plane took off for a forth time. Witnesses saw the aircraft heading toward Creasey Ridge Road to the west of the airport at an altitude of about 100 feet. At one point it appeared that the aircraft tilted back so as to begin climbing and then suddenly nosed over and dove to the ground. The plane crashed in a potato field about 1,000 yards into the neighboring town of Mapleton. Both student and instructor died as a result of the accident.
Source:
Presque Isle Star Herald, September 17, 1931, page 1.
Presque Isle, ME. – March 5, 1932
July 5, 2020
Presque Island, Maine – March 5, 1932
On the evening of March 5, 1932, a “Commander” airplane took off from Edmundton, Maine, bound for Millinocket. The aircraft was built to carry two people, but there were three adults aboard. As the plane neared Presque Isle the pilot noticed it was low on fuel, and made a successful landing on river ice on the Aroostook River just above the Aroostook Bridge. From there the pilot and passengers walked into town and arranged for some gasoline at Mckay’s gas station, and Mr. Mckay drove his customers back to their plane as helped with the refueling. Meanwhile, someone had notified Presque Isle’s chief of police Earnest E. Lyons, who arrived at the plane as it was being fueled.
When the fueling was complete, the pilot and passengers climbed back in the plane and prepared to take off from the ice. The plane seemed to have trouble getting airborne, and when it finally did it, it clipped the top of a large elm tree damaging the propeller. The plane then continued onward bobbing up and down. The pilot attempted to make an emergency landing in an open field but the plane crashed in a wooded area off Washburn Road.
One of the passengers had suffered a cut above the eye and was transported to a hospital by Chief Lyons. After being treated, the three aviators spend the night at a rooming house on Main Street. The aircraft was dismantled and transported to Presque Isle Airport where it would reportedly be repaired.
Source: Presque Isle Star, “Airplane In Distress Heard And seen By Residents Of Presque Isle Saturday” March 10, 1932, page 1
Presque Isle, ME – July 6, 1973
July 20, 2017
Presque Isle, Maine – July 6, 1973
On July 6, 1973, a crop duster aircraft took off from Presque Isle Airport to spray a potato field about three miles from the airport. The 31-year-0ld pilot was just beginning spraying operations when his plane suddenly plunged to the ground and he was killed.
Source:
Providence Journal, “Crop Duster Dies In Maine Crash”, July 8, 1973.
