Webster Massachusetts Plane Crash | New England Aviation History

Webster, MA. – June 3, 1950

October 18, 2023

Webster, Massachusetts – June 3, 1950

U.S. Navy Grumman Avenger
U.S. Navy Photo

On the evening of June 3, 1950, Lieutenant Commander Gregory T. McLean, (28), took off from Anacostia Field in Washington, D. C., bound for Quonset Point Naval Air Station in Rhode Island. The aircraft was described in the newspapers as a “three-seater torpedo bomber”, which may indicate he was piloting a TBM Avenger. While in-route Lt. Cmdr. Mclean and his aircraft disappeared. A widespread search was instituted spanning the east coast and New England. The search included more than 100 aircraft as well as numerous maritime vessels.

The following day the body of Lt. Cmdr. McLean was found in the wreckage of his aircraft which had gone down in a thickly wooded area of Webster, Massachusetts. The cause of the crash is unknown.

Source:

The Boston Globe, “Navy Pilot Dies As Bomber Crashes Into Webster Woods”, June 5, 1950, Pg. 15. Article supplied by Eric Wiberg, author and historian.

Webster, MA. – April 30, 1929

January 14, 2023

Webster, Massachusetts – April 30, 1929

On the night of April 30, 1929, a U. S. Mail plane belonging to Colonial Air Transport, Inc. was attempting to take off from the Webster – Dudley Air Field when the aircraft failed to gain sufficient speed on the muddy field and crashed into a stone wall. The plane was bound for Hartford, Connecticut, when the crash occurred. The pilot, and his passenger, the night supervisor of the New York – Newark, N.J. line, were not injured.

Source: New Britain Herald, (Conn.), “Plane Wrecked In Webster”, May 1, 1929.