Truro, MA. – June 22, 1949

Truro, Massachusetts – June 22, 1949

     On June 22, 1949, three Providence men rented a Stinson Voyager 150 airplane at the Hillsgrove Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island and flew to Cape Cod.  While over the outer cape they found themselves surrounded by heavy fog, so when the pilot saw a break in the clouds he went through it and made an emergency landing in a pasture in Truro, Massachusetts.  The men then walked to Truro’s Highland Lighthouse to ask for directions.  There they met Coastguardsman Arthur F. Silva who brought them back to their airplane in the station’s jeep.  By this time the weather was presumably clearing.

     Silva watched the men climb into the airplane and observed the takeoff.  As the plane rose, the aircraft banked so steeply that the engine stalled, and the plane fell back to earth coming down in a grove of trees.  The aircraft was a total wreck but the men weren’t seriously injured.  Silva helped them into the jeep and began taking them to a local doctor, but when they encountered a lone police officer they were transferred to the patrol car. 

     Source:

     The Provincetown Advocate, “To Fellows And Friends A Far And Abroad”, (A weekly column), June 23, 1949  

 

Truro, MA. – July 18, 1958

Truro, Massachusetts – July 18, 1958

     On July 18, 1958, a private plane with four people from Hoosick Falls, New York, aboard was flying along the west coast of Truro, Massachusetts, when it struck a steel trolley cable used to convey fish to a cold storage plant in north Truro.  The plane then crashed on the beach.  Two of the men aboard were killed instantly, while a third was seriously injured.  The forth person, the 11-year-old son of the pilot, was less seriously injured, and was able to extricate himself from the wreck. 

     Witnesses reported that the plane had made several low passes along the beach prior to striking the cable which was 30 feet in the air.  It was further reported that the reason the plane was flying low was so that a photographer aboard could take beach scene pictures. 

     Sources:

     The New Beacon, “Plane Crashes On North Truro Beach”, July 23, 1958 

     The Provincetown Advocate, “Two Killed In Plane Crash”, July 24, 1958

Barnstable, MA. – June 23, 1945

Barnstable, Massachusetts – June 23, 1945 

(And Truro, Mass. )

 

Early U.S. Navy Helldiver
U.S. Navy Photo

     On the morning of June 23, 1945, a flight of six navy SBW Helldiver aircraft were in a “tail-chase” formation 3,000 feet over the town of Truro, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod.  One aircraft, (Bu. No. 60112), was flying in the third position, and Bu. No. 60142 was following it in the fourth position about 400 feet behind.  When the formation entered a climbing turn, the third aircraft unexpectedly flipped over onto its back and began to fall.  The pilot of the fourth aircraft tried to avoid a collision but was unsuccessful.   

     The right wing of the fourth aircraft was sheared off about six feet from the tip. The pilot attempted to maintain control but was unable to, so he climbed to 4,000 feet and gave the order to his gunner to bail out.  Both men reported having trouble getting clear of the cockpit before jumping.  The aircraft crashed in Barnstable Harbor.  The pilot and his gunner also came down in the water and were rescued by fishermen.   Both suffered non-life-threatening injuries. 

     Meanwhile, the pilot of the other aircraft found his controls frozen after the collision and ordered his gunner, ARM3c Kenneth E. Kubik, (19), to bail out.  The pilot later reported that he too had difficulty leaving the aircraft, but he landed safely with non-life-threatening injuries.  ARM3c Kubik was unable to leave the aircraft and was killed when it crashed and exploded one mile northeast of Truro. 

     ARM3c Kubik was from Caldwell, Kansas, and assigned to VT-74.

     Source: U. S. Navy accident report  dated June 23, 1945   

Off Truro, Ma. – June 26, 1976

Off Truro, Massachusetts – June 26, 1976

     On June 26, 1976, a Cessna 172 with four people aboard, (two men, and two women), was in-route to Provincetown, Massachusetts, when it crashed in the ocean off the shore of Truro while flying in thick fog conditions.  All aboard perished.  The following day three bodies washed ashore at a beach in Truro, and a fourth was found later in the day by divers.  The aircraft wreckage was also located. 

     The aircraft had a Canadian registration of CF-QNG.     

     Sources:

     Aviation Safety Network, Wikibase #6504 

     Providence Evening Bulletin, “Bodies Of Crash Victims Wash Ashore At Truro”, June 28, 1976, page B-9

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