Springfield, MA. – March 9, 1963

July 2, 2017

Springfield, Massachusetts – March 9, 1963

 

B-52 Stratofortress
U.S. Air Force Photo

     On March 9, 1963, a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress was on a flight from Westover Air Force Base when the escape hatch door beneath Lt. Col. John T. Ertler, the B-52’s Radar Navigator, suddenly blew open and he was sucked out of the aircraft while the plane was at 30,000 feet.  Fortunately Lt. Col. Ertler was wearing his parachute and landed in a tree in Springfield where he suffered cuts and a broken arm.   

     The escape hatch came down in the back yard of a private home in Springfield.   There were no injuries to the occupants of the home.  

     Source:

     Providence Journal, “Tossed From Bomber 30,000 Feet In Air”, March 10, 1963  

     Update, May 19, 2018

     The escape hatch measured about 3ft by 5 ft.  It reportedly came down in the yard of 37 Linden Street which is directly across from Sacred Heart School where classes were in session at the time.

     An air force helicopter was able to land in the back yard of 51 Cunningham Street to take the injured flyer to the hospital. 

     Source: Springfield Union, “Navigator Is Sucked Out Opening, lands Near Van Horn Dike”, Mach 8, 1963   

Filed Under: Massachusetts - Military Tagged With: , , , ,

Springfield, MA. – October 18, 1910

June 20, 2017

Springfield, MA. – October 18, 1910

     On October 18, 1910, aviator Louis G. Erickson, 32, was piloting a Curtiss biplane over Springfield.  At one point, as he was making a turn, the aircraft suddenly dropped from an altitude of about forty feet and fell into the top of a tree.  Erickson was tossed clear by the impact, and fell the rest of the way to the ground.  He was unconscious when help arrived, but he later recovered. The aircraft was reported to be “considerably damaged”.     

     Source:

     Hartford Courant, (Conn.), “Aviator Falls In Springfield”, October 19, 1910 

Filed Under: Massachusetts - Civil Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Springfield, MA – May 28, 1910

January 25, 2017

Springfield, Massachusetts – May 28, 1910

 

     On the evening of May 28, 1910, the balloon Springfield, took off from the Court Square extension in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, with five men aboard.  The trip was reported to be “another comet party”, presumably to observe Halley’s Comet which was present in the nighttime sky at that time.   

     The pilot was J. B Benton, of Boston.  Passengers included David P. Todd, a professor at Amherst College; two Amherst students, Robert Wells of Paris, France, and Nelson Waite; and Boston businessman Louis Dederick. 

     The balloon lifted slowly upwards as it drifted towards the railroad tracks of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.  While only about twenty feet in the air, the balloon lines leading from the passenger gondola to the balloon netting got snagged on wires suspended over the tracks.  The balloon was now bobbing above the wires while the gondola with its cargo was left helplessly dangling beneath, directly over the tracks.  A crowd gathered as the occupants struggled to free the lines, but before much could be done, the sounds of an approaching express train could be heard. 

     The train showed no signs of slowing as it approached, but fortunately it only grazed the gondola as it sped past and continued on its way without stopping. 

     After recovering from what they thought was their certain end, the men decided to abandon their plans for a balloon flight for that evening. 

     Sources:

     New York Tribune, “Express Grazes Balloon”, May 29, 1910 

     Omaha Daily Bee, (Omaha, Neb.) “Train And Balloon Nearly Collide”, May 30, 1910

Filed Under: Massachusetts - Civil Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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