I too remember Skip from Northborough. He and I were in 7th and 8th grade together. We both moved to Westborough to start High School. I always remember him as a superb prankster and he had a way with girls that we all envied.
Narrative: The EC-121 plane took off from Otis AFB at 18:58. Eight minutes later the crew reported a fire in the no. 3 engine. They would attempt an emergency landing at Nantucket, but did not make it. The airplane crashed just offshore into the sea.
On April 25, 1967, Millie’s vigilance was rewarded when she spotted a crippled US Air Force EC-121H “Warning Star” aircraft on fire, crossing over the island at 100 feet of altitude, engines spitting fire and metal, shedding parts, and about to crash one mile west of the island. The pilot, Colonel James Lyle, USAF, opted not to try an emergency landing at the island’s airport to avoid killing innocent civilians and ditched in the ocean. 34
Part of the broken fuselage ended up in Millie’s yard as the crippled craft sputtered overhead. Millie immediately pinpointed the crash site and alerted rescuers, who saved the plane’s navigator and sole survivor, Lieutenant Joseph Guenet, who was miraculously ejected from the fuselage as it broke in two.
At 6:30 p.m. on April 25, 1967, a “radar picket plane” with sixteen men aboard took off from Otis Air Force Base for patrol duty over the Atlantic. “A half hour later,” it was reported, “eye witnesses heard the plane roaring over their homes at Madaket on the western end of Nantucket.”
The plane crashed into the sea off the western end of the island. A commercial pilot flying in the area saw the plane go down, and said the Air Force pilot had made a deliberate effort to avoid crashing in the center of town.
The plane was piloted by Col. James P. Lyle Jr., 47, commander of the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing based at Otis.
Of the sixteen men aboard, there was only one survivor: the navigator, Lieut. Joseph H. Guenet, 29, of Montreal, Quebec.
This was the second radar plane out of Otis to be lost within two years. The other went down in July, 1965, with sixteen lives lost.
I too remember Skip Cole....just another one of the handsome guys from the class of '66 that rode my bus (#???) along with Jan Gebo, Richard Ploen, David Libby, Jeffrey Aldrich, David Eddy and MOI....lucky me.
Love the reunions and this year was particularly wonderful.....class of '66 just gets better.
Just want to shout out to Karen and Lynn Heywood. my sidekicks......missing you both.
Skip was a great friend all through high school. I still remember hearing the news that his plane had crashed at sea. What a terrible loss!! He was one of the good guys, for sure. And 14 other fellows on that plane were lost as well.
Jan Gebo
Skip moved to westboro from Northboro when we were
Starting high school
He moved to uptown road and we began our
Friendship
His guitar playing and love of singing songs of kingsto trio
And riding our bikes to Hopkinton in chase of a beautiful blond
At pout rock kept us busy in the summer
Of course, he won that race!!
His laughter and friendship has lasted me a lifetime and his death on a wrecked
Air Force bomber over Nantucket remain one of my saddest memories
I miss him dearly and wish he could have been with us at the reunion
Richard Ploen
I too remember Skip from Northborough. He and I were in 7th and 8th grade together. We both moved to Westborough to start High School. I always remember him as a superb prankster and he had a way with girls that we all envied.Richard Boyd
Skip was killed on the crash of a "Connie" radar plane after an engine fire
Date:
Lockheed EC-121H Super Constellation
Narrative:
The EC-121 plane took off from Otis AFB at 18:58. Eight minutes later the crew reported a fire in the no. 3 engine. They would attempt an emergency landing at Nantucket, but did not make it. The airplane crashed just offshore into the sea.
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as they were trying to land after the engine fire, the men aboard assumed crash position.
The man beside Skip looked out the window and said something to Skip to the effect that it looked like they would be OK.
When the plane crashed, that man, sitted beside Skip, was spit up to the surface and everyone else was gone.
Very sad as to why one person lives and one dies. God bless you Skip.
Richard Boyd
Yakima WA USA
Richard Boyd
From the coast guard history
On April 25, 1967, Millie’s vigilance was rewarded when she spotted a crippled US Air Force EC-121H “Warning Star” aircraft on fire, crossing over the island at 100 feet of altitude, engines spitting fire and metal, shedding parts, and about to crash one mile west of the island. The pilot, Colonel James Lyle, USAF, opted not to try an emergency landing at the island’s airport to avoid killing innocent civilians and ditched in the ocean. 34
Part of the broken fuselage ended up in Millie’s yard as the crippled craft sputtered overhead. Millie immediately pinpointed the crash site and alerted rescuers, who saved the plane’s navigator and sole survivor, Lieutenant Joseph Guenet, who was miraculously ejected from the fuselage as it broke in two.
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Stone at Otis AF Base
http://www.dean-boys.com/rededication/Homey%2082.jpg
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At 6:30 p.m. on April 25, 1967, a “radar picket plane” with sixteen men aboard took off from Otis Air Force Base for patrol duty over the Atlantic. “A half hour later,” it was reported, “eye witnesses heard the plane roaring over their homes at Madaket on the western end of Nantucket.”
The plane crashed into the sea off the western end of the island. A commercial pilot flying in the area saw the plane go down, and said the Air Force pilot had made a deliberate effort to avoid crashing in the center of town.
The plane was piloted by Col. James P. Lyle Jr., 47, commander of the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing based at Otis.
Of the sixteen men aboard, there was only one survivor: the navigator, Lieut. Joseph H. Guenet, 29, of Montreal, Quebec.
This was the second radar plane out of Otis to be lost within two years. The other went down in July, 1965, with sixteen lives lost.
Deborah Gilmore (Prewitt)
I too remember Skip Cole....just another one of the handsome guys from the class of '66 that rode my bus (#???) along with Jan Gebo, Richard Ploen, David Libby, Jeffrey Aldrich, David Eddy and MOI....lucky me.
Love the reunions and this year was particularly wonderful.....class of '66 just gets better.
Just want to shout out to Karen and Lynn Heywood. my sidekicks......missing you both.
David Libbey
Skip was a great friend all through high school. I still remember hearing the news that his plane had crashed at sea. What a terrible loss!! He was one of the good guys, for sure. And 14 other fellows on that plane were lost as well.