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
