Princeton, Massachusetts – February 9, 1970

     On February 9, 1970, two men left Sterling, Massachusetts, airport in a small airplane bound for Nashua, New Hampshire.  Not long after take-off the aircraft crashed in a wooded section of Princeton, Mass. about two miles off Route 140.  Both men were killed.

     A search for the downed aircraft was instituted, but the effort to locate it resulted in a second fatal accident.  Three days later, on February 12th, a Civil Air Patrol aircraft taking part in the search crashed and burned at Sterling Airport.  The pilot, Stewart C. Woodworth Jr., age 50, of Weston, Mass., was killed.  His observer, Stephen J. Nottonson, of Newton, Mass., was severely injured.     

     The crash site was eventually discovered by snowmobilers taking part in the search.  

     Source: 

     Providence Journal, “Missing Plane, 2 Dead Fliers Found In Mass.”, February 13, 1970