Continued.......Much of the debris from the planes fell on Maycroft, a 43 acre estate owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island for a school and summer camp for children. At the time of the accident, there were about 90 children vacationing there, who were on the grounds of this bay camp, but other than being splashed with hot engine oil, no injuries were reported. Witnesses agreed that 3 men were clearly visible floating to earth with parachutes even before the planes had a chance to break up. The body of the fourth flier, whose chute didn't open, was believed to have been instantly killed in the crash and thrown free by the force of the impact. His body was found a short time later on Short Beach, having plummeted to earth. Of the three remaining fliers, one was found dead in the marsh behind what is now the Peerless Marine Center on Ferry Road. Those on the scene said he had suffered severe head injuries, as if he had been struck by debris while floating to the ground. The two fliers who escaped death, dropped into a field on the south side of Ferry Road. They were dazed and shock-ridden, and driven by passers-by in a station wagon to the Municipal Building on Main Street. Once inside Police Headquarters, they established communications with Mitchell Field, but refused to give any information locally on the cause of the accident. Mr. Mel Lamb, who at the time operated the East Hampton Airport, was just landing after a flight from Gardiner's Island, when he saw the tragedy taking place from the air. Capt. Lamb immediately took off from East Hampton Airport and reported seeing an engine buried in the main driveway leading to Maycroft, and the grounds strewn with debris. Across the road lay the body of a dead flier. A police guard was set up to keep people away until the arrival of Air Force authorities. Wreckage of the second plane was seen by numerous residents to fall into the lower cove of Sag Harbor. At about 12:30pm, three local residents, Mrs. Madeline McPartlin, Bill Brewer and Henry Brewer who were in a rowboat, located the engine of one of the Mustangs in about six feet of water, and notified the Coast Guard. In the days that followed, debris was loaded onto Air Force trucks and transported away. Oddly, even though local newspapers noted the incident at the time, no followup was ever published as to the cause. That was, until about 1998 when I got a copy of the 50 page official Air Force report on the accident. There were a lot more details with names, mission purposes, times, etc. but in the end it was attributed to pilot error. One of the two pilots who died on one of the planes may have been practicing instrument flying wearing a hood to black out the surroundings and collided with the other plane.
So man, that's where it stands except for what could be termed a strange coincidence on that same Thursday as the mid-air collision over Sag Harbor.This time at about 7 pm that evening, Mrs. William Benbenik, who, with her husband and brother were fishing at Georgica Beach in East Hampton Village, noticed a puff of smoke about two miles westward. Grabbing a pair of binoculars, Mrs. Benbenik observed what she believed to be a small plane coming toward her, dipping up and down. Suddenly it veered offshore, dipped into the ocean and disappeared. She reported the incident , which she described mostly as a white ball, to East Hampton Village police officer Dick Steele, who was patrolling nearby. Mel Lamb, of the East Hampton Airport was contacted and flew out with another pilot. He observed an oil slick and what appeared to be some wreckage, about 5 miles offshore. Mr. Lamb notified the New York Air Sea Rescue, just before dark. An extensive search was conducted, but no aircraft wreckage was ever found, nor was a plane ever reported missing in the vicinity of the New York or New England area! (Copyright 2008 BVB)
MP looks at plane engine in Maycroft's driveway
MP looks at plane engine in Maycroft's driveway
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