Vineyard Sound Plane Crash | New England Aviation History

Off Falmouth, MA. – November 21, 2001

November 26, 2024

Off Falmouth, Massachusetts – November 21, 2001

At about 12:30 P.M. on November 21, 2001, a small airplane was seen in distress over Vineyard Sound. According to witnesses, the plane skimmed the water twice before crashing and breaking apart about two miles from shore off the end of Manauhant Road. Police, fire, Coast Guard, and private water craft raced to the scene where the body of a 57-year-old Tewksbury man was recovered. Divers searched for further victims until it was determined that the pilot had been the only person aboard.

The aircraft was a 1981 Beech Baron BE55.

Source:

The Falmouth Enterprise, “Single-Engine Plane Crash Off Falmouth Kills Pilot”, November 23, 2001, page 1.

Vineyard Sound – August 10, 1952

June 2, 2015

Vineyard Sound – August 10, 1952

Between Martha’s Vineyard and Falmouth, Massachusetts

F-94 Fighter Jet
U.S. Air Force Photo

On August 10, 1952, a U. S. Air Force F-94 fighter jet piloted by Captain Hobart R. Gay, 28, took off from Otis Air Force base in Falmouth, Massachusetts, for a training flight. As he was returning to base, Gay radioed for landing instructions. Just afterwards, a Coast Guard watchman reported seeing his aircraft suddenly plunge into the water of Vineyard Sound and disappear.

The crash was also witnessed by a Falmouth auxiliary policeman who reported he saw a “streak of light” drop from the sky.

A search and rescue mission was immediately launched, but all that was found was an oil slick, and fragments of Captain Gay’s aircraft. His body was never recovered.

Captain Gay was a 1946 graduate of West Point. He flew 105 combat missions in Korea, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, and Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters.

He was survived by his wife Jane, and his son, Hobart R. Gay III.

Source:

New York Times, “Jet Crash Victim Found To be Hero”, August 12, 1952

Falmouth Enterprise, “Auxiliary Policeman Sees Jet Plane Fall”, August 15, 1952