Hillsgrove Air Field, RI – December 21, 1941

Hillsgrove Air Field

Warwick, Rhode Island – December 21, 1941

    

O-52  #40-2714 Hillsgrove, R.I., Dec. 21, 1941 U.S. Air Corps Photo

O-52 #40-2714
Hillsgrove, R.I., Dec. 21, 1941
U.S. Air Corps Photo

     On the morning of December 21, 1941, an army 2nd lieutenant was piloting an O-52 observation aircraft, (#40-2714), from Fort Devens, Massachusetts, to Hillsgrove Field in Warwick, Rhode Island. 

     At 9:23 a.m. the pilot radioed Hillsgrove Tower  and received permission to land on runway 4.  As the pilot was making his approach, he received instructions from the tower to land on the grass to the left of the runway because a flight of three P-39 aircraft were also approaching the same runway.  The pilot altered his approach and landed on the grass. 

     As he taxied along the grass, two of the three P-39s came in for a landing on runway 4.  As he watched for the third to land, one of the P-39’s (#41-6744) moved off the runway and into the path of the O-52, and parked with its propeller still turning.  Due to the configuration of the O-52 while on the ground, with its nose high and its tail low, the lieutenant couldn’t see the P-39 in his “blind spot” until it was too late.  The prop of the P-39 cut the wings off the O-52.  Neither pilot was injured.     

     The O-52 was assigned to the 152nd Observation Squadron.   

     Source: U.S. Air Corps Technical Report Of Aircraft Accident, #42-12-21-14

Fort Devens, MA – May 4, 1942

Fort Devens, Massachusetts – May 4, 1942

      

U.S. Air Corps O-52 Aircraft #40-2713 U.S. Army Air Corps Photo Ft. Devens, Mass.  May 4, 1942

U.S. Air Corps O-52 Aircraft
#40-2713
U.S. Army Air Corps Photo
Ft. Devens, Mass.
May 4, 1942

     At about 11:30 a.m., on May 4, 1942, 2nd Lt. Howard E. Conklin, and 1st Lt. Arthur L. Miller, took off from Fort Devens Field in an O-52 observation plane, (Ser. No. 40-2713), for a routine patrol flight.  Upon their return at 1:00 p.m., strong gusty winds were buffeting the field.  After circling the field, Lt. Conklin decided it would be better to land on the west runway.  Just as the plane touched down a strong crosswind caught the tail and swung the plane to the right.  Lt. Conklin applied full rudder and brake, but there was no response as the plane continued to swing to the left.  Then the wingtip hit the ground and swung the plane to the right before coming to rest. 

     Although there was damage to the plane, neither man was hurt.

     The aircraft was assigned to the 152nd Observation Squadron at Fort Devens. 

     Source: U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Report Of Aircraft Accident, #42-5-4-15  Photo of wrecked aircraft is from the report.  

 

 

 

Fort Devens Airport, MA – December 23, 1941

Fort Devens Airport

Fort Devens, Massachusetts – December 23, 1941

    

L-3C  Ser. No. 42-459 Ft. Devens Airport, Mass. December 23, 1941 U.S. Air Corps Photo

L-3C Ser. No. 42-459
Ft. Devens Airport, Mass.
December 23, 1941
U.S. Air Corps Photo

     On December 23, 1941, 2nd Lt. Lorenz F. Kubach was attempting to take off from Fort Devens Airport for a training flight when the engine of his airplane suddenly quit after he’d left the runway and had reached an altitude of 100 feet.  Knowing he didn’t have sufficient altitude to turn around, he attempted to get the plane back on the ground before reaching the end of the runway.  Going beyond the runway was not an option due to the rough terrain and a cliff that lay ahead at the edge of the field.   Therefore he dove the plane to the runway hoping to ground loop it, but his instead the plane bounced on one wheel and nosed over onto its back. 

     The aircraft was an L-3C, ser. No. 42-459.

     Although the plane was badly damaged, Lt. Kubach, and his passenger, 1st Lt. Hartzel R. Birch, received only minor injuries.

     The men were assigned to the 152nd Observation Squadron based at Fort Devens. 

     Source: U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Report Of Aircraft Accident #42-12-23-5 

    

Portland Airport, ME – August 30, 1941

Portland Airport, Maine – August 30, 1941

     At 1:45 p.m., on August 30, 1941, a U.S. Army  O-52 observation plane (Ser. No. 40-2705), was making a landing at Portland Airport, on the north-south runway.  Just as the plane was about to touch down, a civilian plane crossed its path from the east-west runway and a collision between the two occurred. 

     The O-52 was wrecked, but the pilot and his passenger escaped with minor injuries.  The two civilians aboard the other aircraft were uninjured.

     The O-52 was assigned to the 152nd Observation Squadron.

     Source: U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Report Of Aircraft Accident dated September 18, 1941.

Boston Harbor – August 18, 1941

Boston Harbor – August 18, 1941

     On August 18, 1941, a O-47A observation aircraft, (Ser. No. 38-306), was pulling anti-aircraft targets over the waters of Boston Harbor when the pilot needed to land for refueling.  After flying for two hours, the fuel in the two main tanks was exhausted, so the pilot switched to the reserve tank, which according to the fuel gauge in the cockpit held 50 gallons, and began to approach the field.   As he was making the approach the engine suddenly quit, forcing the pilot to ditch in the water.  The plane sank, but the three crewmen aboard were able to climb out and be rescued. 

     The crewmen were identified as:

     (Pilot) 1st Lt. J. F. Barrett

     Pvt. Melvyn A. Cady

     Pvt. Harold E. Sutcliffe

     The men were assigned to the 152nd Observation Squadron based at Ft. Devens, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod.  

     Source: U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Report Of Air Craft Accident dated August 27, 1941         

Lunenburg, MA – June 4,1941

     Lunenburg, Massachusetts – June 4, 1941

     On June 4, 1941, an O-38E observation plane, (ser. No. 34-14), was landing at Lunenburg Airdrome when the wheels hit a soft spot in the unpaved runway and the plane nosed over onto its back.  The pilot, 2nd Lt. John F. Barrett, and the observer, 2nd Lt. Ernest O. Lindblom, (Spelled with one “o” in report.) escaped with minor injuries, however the plane was reportedly “demolished beyond economical repair.”    

     The men were assigned to the 152nd Observation Squadron based at Hillsgrove Army Air Field in Warwick, Rhode Island.  

     Source: U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Report Of Aircraft Accident #41-6-4-1

    

    

Fitchburg-Leominster Airport – May 21, 1941

Fitchburg-Leominster Airport – May 21, 1941

     At 2:00 p.m., on May 21, 1941, a O-38E observation plane (Ser. No. 34-16) was taking off from Fitchburg-Leominster Airport for a photo reconnaissance flight, when it was hit  by a strong cross-wind gust that pushed the aircraft off course and into a pile of dirt left by a construction crew.  Although the airplane was demolished, the pilot, Captain Augustus Becker, and his observer, 1st Lt. Arthur L. Miller, escaped with only minor injuries. 

     The men were assigned to the 152nd Observation Squadron based at Hillsgrove Field in Warwick, Rhode Island.    

     Source: U.S. Army Air Corps Technical report Of Aircraft Accident #41-5-21-5   

Fort Devens Airport, MA – April 21, 1942

Fort Devens Airport, Fort Devens, Massachusetts

April 21, 1942        

      Fort Devens Airport was active at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, during World War II.  It was later named Moore Field after Chief Warrant Officer 2 Douglas Moore, who was killed in Vietnam.  The field closed in 1995.

     At 7:55 p.m., on April 21, 1942, an Army O-52 observation plane (Ser. No. 40-2702) was returning to Fort Devens Airport after a reconnaissance flight when the aircraft crashed in four feet of water at the edge of a pond.  The plane fell from an altitude of 500 feet while making a turn in preparation for landing.   Both the pilot and observer were killed.

      The dead were identified as 1st Lt. Gerald Patrick Kennedy, 26, of Providence, R.I., and 2nd Lt. Robert Wright Booker, 24, of Illiopolia, Ill.  

     Lt. Booker, the pilot,  is buried in Macon County Memorial Park, Section 14, in Harristown, Illinois.  He received his pilot’s wings on October 31, 1941. 

     Lt. Kennedy is buried in St. Francis Cemetery, Section 51, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.  

     Later in the evening Lt. Kennedy was scheduled to attend a party in his honor due to his recent promotion to first lieutenant.  As a point of fact, Lt. Booker wasn’t scheduled to be on that flight, but he’d taken the place of another officer.  

     Today there is a hanger named for Lt. Kennedy  at T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I. (Formerly Hillsgrove)

     The men were assigned to the 152nd Observation Squadron, and it was reported that these men were the first airplane related fatalities in the history of the 152nd.  The 152nd had been stationed at Hillsgrove Airport in Warwick, R.I. prior to being transferred in the summer of 1941 to  Fort Devens. 

     Sources:

     U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Report Of Aircraft Accident #42-4-21-23

     Woonsocket Call, “Army Probing Devens Plane Crash In Which 2 Met Death”, April 22, 1942, Pg. 1

     Wikipedia – Fort Devens Airport 

     www.findagrave.com

 

 

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