Westfield Massachusetts Aviation Accident | New England Aviation History

Westfield-Barnes Airport – June 3, 1983

November 20, 2018

Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport – June 3, 1983

Shortly before 11:00 a.m. on the morning of June 3, 1983, a 44-year-old pilot was flying a restored single-engine AT-6 former U.S. Navy training plane over the airport as part of a proficiency test to obtain an FAA aerobatics rating. As part of the test, he was to complete a four-point roll, during which he was to begin by flying the aircraft on a horizontal level, then tip sideways with the wings perpendicular to the ground, then roll upside down while maintaining horizontal flight, and then roll back over to level upright flight. It was during this maneuver that the aircraft dove into the ground and the pilot was killed.

Source:

The Sun, (Westerly, R.I.), “Feds Investigate Crash Killing Conn. Stunt Pilot”, June 6, 1983, page 7

Westfield, MA. – October 3, 1986

May 26, 2018

Westfield, Massachusetts, October 3, 1986

On the evening of October 3, 1986, a single-engine Piper PA-28 Cherokee, (N3688), with a lone pilot aboard left Barnes Airport in Westfield bound for LeFleur Airport in nearby Northampton.

After arriving safely at Le Fleur, the pilot took a husband and wife aboard as passengers. The husband and the pilot were long-time friends. The aircraft then took off from LeFluer headed back to Barnes, a distance of about ten miles, but bad weather had settled in and visibility dropped to near zero.

At 7:05 p.m. the pilot contacted the tower at Barnes and requested a “special VFR landing”, but was advised that another incoming aircraft had priority. A few minutes later, after being granted clearance to land, the aircraft flew into a vertical cliff on the Westfield side of East Mountain. The resulting fireball was observed by the air traffic controller at Barnes.

All three persons aboard the aircraft were killed instantly.

The crash site was in a remote section of the mountain, and rescue workers had a difficult time reaching it.

Sources:

Springfield Republican, “Three Bodies Recovered At remote Plane Crash Site”, October 5, 1986, page 1. (Photo of crash site.)

Westerly Sun, (R.I.), “Pilot Ignored Weather; Three Killed In Crash”, October 5, 1986, page 12.