Quincy, MA. – June 10, 1943

Quincy, Massachusetts – June 11, 1943

     On the afternoon of  June 11, 1943, a flight of three navy planes were passing over the city of Quincy when, according to witnesses, an eight-inch long, by three-inch-in-diameter, incendiary bomb fell from one of the aircraft.  The device landed in the city’s Wollaston neighborhood at the intersection of Watkins and Randall Street.  (The release of the bomb was accidental.)

     The bomb landed near five children who were walking home from school however none of them were injured.  The first to respond to the scene was Arthur Luke of Watkins Street, an air raid warden for the city, and the father of one of the children.  He stood by the device until officials from the Squantum Naval Air station arrived to remove it.    

     Source:

     The Boston Globe, “Incendiary Bomb From Navy Plane Imperils 5 Boys”, June 11, 1943, pg. 8.  (Article submitted by Eric Wiberg, author and historian.)

Quincy, MA. – July 21, 1979

Quincy, Massachusetts – July 21, 1979 

     On July 21, 1979, a Cessna 305 left Plymouth, Massachusetts, carrying an advertising banner which was to be flown over the south shore resort areas.  During the flight, the aircraft developed engine trouble, and the pilot made an emergency crash-landing in a stone quarry in Quincy.  The aircraft suffered substantial damage, but the 49-year-old pilot from Nashua, N.H., was not injured.

     Source:

     Providence Sunday Journal, “Plane Lands In Quarry”, July 22, 1979, page B-10, (with photo) 

NAS Squantum – July 6, 1944

Naval Air station Squantum – July 6, 1944

Quincy, Massachusetts

 

U.S. Navy F6F Hellcat
U.S. Navy photo

     On July 6, 1944, a pilot took off from the Squantum Naval Air Station in an F6F-3 Hellcat, (Bu. No. 40340), for a night training flight.  Almost immediately after takeoff the engine began to sputter and loose power.  The pilot attempted to make an emergency landing on another runway, however there was already other aircraft on it, so he was forced to make a water landing along the shoreline.  The aircraft was damaged beyond repair, however the pilot was unhurt.

     Source: U. S. Navy Accident Report – dated July 6, 1944

Squantum Naval Air Station – January 21, 1945

Squantum Naval Air Station – January 21, 1945

Quincy, Massachusetts

 

U.S. Navy F6F Hellcat
U.S. Navy photo

     On January 21, 1945, Lt. (jg.) Peter Rippa, took off in an F6F-3 Hellcat, (Bu. No. 41789), from Squantum Naval Air station on a routine familiarization flight. 

     As he was returning to the base, he found that the landing gear wouldn’t come down.  After several tires he notified the tower of his situation and was cleared for an emergency landing on Runway 260.  Rippa brought the plane down on its belly and skidded to a stop.  The Hellcat was heavily damaged by Rippa was not hurt.

     The aircraft was assigned to VF-21.

     Source: U.S. Navy Accident Report dated January 21, 1945  

Quincy, MA. – July 17, 1912

Quincy, Massachusetts – July 17, 1912

     On July 17, 1912, 17-year-old aeronaut Lawrence Stafford, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, was scheduled to perform a balloon ascension and parachute jump at a place known as Hough’s Neck in the town of Quincy.  Several hundred people had come to witness the event.

     When the balloon had reached an altitude of 2,000 feet Stafford made his jump, but the parachute failed to open.  He landed in shallow water in Quincy Bay and was killed. 

     Source:

      Hartford Courant, (Conn.), “Parachute Jumper Falls To His Death”, July 18, 1912

Quincy, MA – August 30, 1910

Quincy, Massachusetts – August 30, 1910 

     On August 30, 1910, well known Kansas City aviator, Horace Kearney, was taking part in the Boston-Harvard Aero Meet being held at the Atlantic Aviation Field in Quincy, when he was involved in an airplane crash.  

     Shortly before the accident, Mr. Kearney had made a successful test flight with his Pfitzner monoplane and reached an altitude of 70 feet over the field before landing safely.

     On his second flight he rose to 25 feet, and began practicing some dips and rises to see how the aircraft would handle.  As he was doing so a strong gust of wind caught the aircraft and sent it into a spin.  The front of the airplane smashed into the ground and splintered, and the wheels were broken.  The rest of the plane was thought to be salvageable, but it would take time to make repairs. 

     Mr. Kearney survived with bumps and bruises. 

     Mr. Kearney later lost his life in another aviation accident in 1912 in the water off California. 

     Sources:

     The Bridgeport Evening Farmer, “Horace Kearney’s Aero Plane Wrecked At Opening Of Boston-Harvard Meet”, August 31, 1910 

    

        

 

 

Quincy, MA – September 3, 1910

Quincy, Massachusetts – September 3, 1910 

 

    early biplane On September 3, 1910, aviator Clifford B. Harmon was participating in the Boston-Harvard Aero Meet being held at Atlantic, Massachusetts, a village within the town of Quincy.   While taking off in in his biplane, one of the wheels sank in the soft wet dirt some of which accumulated on the landing gear and made the aircraft unsteady.  Just after takeoff, while at an altitude of about forty feet, he crashed in a marshy area.  The aircraft was wrecked, but Harmon escaped injury.

     Source: Arizona Republican, “An Inter-continental Aviation Meet”, September 4, 1910       

Inter-continental Aviation Meet – 1910

Inter-continental Aviation Meet – September 3, 1910

 

     The following newspaper article, dated September 3, 1910,  appeared in the Arizona Republican (Phoenix, Arizona).  Atlantic, Massachusetts, is a village in the town of Quincy, Massachusetts, near Boston.  Apparently there was at least once crash at the meet. 

An Inter-Continental Aviation Meet

————

The Initial Performance at Atlantic, Massachusetts

     Atlantic, Mass. Sept. 3 – Daring aviators of two continents met at the new Harvard aviation field at Atlantic today on the opening of the Harvard-Boston aero meet which will be continued through the next ten days.

     In a three-mile breeze, Wright’s new model biplane, with the front control removed and placed at the rear, was taken out by Ralph Johnstone. Walter Brookins, in the standard Wright machine, followed, and then came Charles F. Willard in a Curtiss biplane.  Claude Graham White, in his Farnam biplane, and Clifford B. Harmon also flew.  One of the wheels of Harmon’s biplane sank into the soft dirt on the getaway, making the machine unsteady , and from a height of forty feet it fell into a marsh and was wrecked.  Harmon escaped injury.

     A drizzling rain fell during all of the afternoon, and the crowds were leaving when Graham White came out a second time in his Bleriot for what proved to be a sensational flight.  In a three-lap flight, Mr. White did a five and a quarter miles in six minutes, five seconds, the best speed of the day.

     Curtiss came out at 6:30 p.m. for some practice flights in his own racing machine  closing the day’s events.        

 

Quincy Bay, MA – July 27, 1917

Quincy Bay, Massachusetts – July 27, 1917 

    

      Little information exists about this early military aviation incident. 

     On July 24, 1917, a severe electrical storm formed over the Boston metropolitan area causing heavy winds and widespread damage.  At the time of its arrival, two military aircraft from the Squantum air training station were airborne on a routine training flight and were caught in the squall and blown out to sea.  The types of aircraft and the pilot’s names were not released by the military. 

     Immediately after the storm, navy boats were ordered to search for the missing airmen in the Dorchester Bay, Quincy Bay, and Hough’s Neck areas.  The search was called off after two hours after both men were found to be safe, however the details of their recovery were also withheld by the military. 

     It was stated in the Meriden Morning Record: “One of the patrol boats were reported to have rescued an aviator from the water of Quincy Bay and another boat was said to have on board a portion of a wrecked machine”     

     The rest of the news article focused on three persons killed by the storm.

     One of those killed was Pvt. James F. Broderick, of the Massachusetts 2nd Field Artillery who was struck by lightning in his tent where the unit was camping in Boxford, Massachusetts.

     Two women were killed when the unfinished building they’d sought shelter in collapsed.

     Source: Meriden Morning Record, “Aviators Caught In Thunderstorm”, July 28, 1917 

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