Montague, MA. – August 11, 1965

May 25, 2026

Montague, Massachusetts – August 11, 1965 

     On August 11, 1965, two men were aboard a single-engine Beech T-34 airplane making practice landings and take-offs from the Turners Fall Airport in Montague.  The plane belonged to the Westover Aero Club of Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts.  The pilot was a student taking a refresher course from an instructor.  Both men were stationed at Westover AFB.

     On one of the landings, the plane touched down two feet short of the paved runway causing it to bound in the air and come down on its left side damaging the left wing and landing gear.   Neither occupant was injured. 

     Source:

     Providence Journal, “2 Safe In Plane Crash-Landing”, August 12, 1965, Pg. 17.   

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

Greenfield, MA. – June 11, 1939

March 10, 2026

Greenfield, Massachusetts – June 11, 1939

     On June 11, 1939, four persons took off in a small airplane from the Turners Falls Airport for a sightseeing flight.  The plane had made three such flights earlier in the day.  According to witnesses, as the plane achieved altitude and began to make a banking turn the left wing suddenly broke loose.  The plane then went into a dive and crashed in an area known as “Scrub Grove”.  All aboard were killed instantly. 

     The type of aircraft was not stated in the press. 

     Source:

     Providence Journal, “Four Lose Lives In Plane Crash”, June 12, 1939, pg. 9.    

Filed Under: Massachusetts - Civil Tagged With: ,

Turners Falls, MA – September 20, 1943

April 19, 2015

Turners Falls, Massachusetts – September 20, 1943

     At about 3:00 p.m., on September 20, 1943, a Pitcairn PCA-3 Autogyro, NC11612 took off from Turners Falls Airport in Montague, Massachusetts, and crashed about a half hour afterwards about one mile west-northwest of the airport.  The pilot, Donald Whitman was seriously injured.

     Whitman was test flying the aircraft for the Department of Agriculture, flying low at tree-top level to simulate aerial spraying which was what the autogyro was to be used for.  At one point the landing gear snagged some electrical wires which caused the accident.    The wires were stretched between poles which were partially hidden by dense foliage. 

     Source: Civil Aeronautics Investigation Report 4066-43, May 19, 1944.

      

 

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