Kennebunk, Maine – December 12, 1954
On December 12, 1954, two men from Malden, Massachusetts, were en route to Sanford Airport in Sanford, Maine, flying in a Fairchild PT-23. The aircraft belonged to a third man who had arranged for the plane to be flown to Sanford to be stored for the winter. While en route to Sanford, the pilot became lost, so he landed at Portland Airport to get directions to Sanford. The pair took off towards Sanford, but were unable to locate the airport, and with darkness falling, decided to turn around and go back to Portland. While making their way back to Portland, the aircraft suffered engine failure, and the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing on the Maine Turnpike, (Interstate Rt. 95). The plane came down on the tarmac and was going about 85 mph when the pilot applied the brakes, but only one wheel caught, causing the airplane to swerve into a concrete abutment of the Cat Mousam Road overpass, (State Rt. 99). The impact tore the engine away from the aircraft and the wings and fuselage crumpled. Both pilot and passenger were transported to Webber Memorial Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
As to the man who owned the airplane, he had been waiting for his plane to arrive in Sanford so he could drive the other two men back to Malden.
Source: The Stanford Tribune and Advocate, “Engine Failure Results In Plane Crash On Turnpike”, December 16, 1954, page 1.
