Fighter Jet Crashes in Larchmont Harbor:
50 Years Ago

by Ned Benton, based on contemporaneous news accounts.

(March 11, 2004) "I heard an explosion behind me so I veered the plane a little to the right and headed for water ... I saw the water ahead. Of course, you don't have much time to think, but I knew if I reached the Sound nobody would get hurt." Over Yonkers, the tail had just exploded off First Lieutenant Donald O'Connell's F-84 fighter jet.

Larchmont Year in Review 1954 This is the first of a series of articles about Larchmont in 1954, part of the Gazette's "Larchmont Year in Review" Project. The project interprets Larchmont history year by year. Larchmonters speak for themselves through news reports, pictures, and official documents.

It was June 10, 1954, and Air Force Lieutenant O'Connell was ferrying a jet fighter destined for NATO forces in Europe. He already had one problem with the old jet, and had stopped over for a repair in Wilmington, Delaware.

A second explosion shook the plane, and an intense fire raged in the cockpit, with flames from the exhaust breaking searing his face and arms. But Lieutenant O'Connell remained with his disabled aircraft, steering toward the waters of Long Island Sound, where a crash would minimize the danger to life and property.

In Larchmont, William Soper saw the jet descending, making "a long slow easy glide with flames and smoke coming from the fuselage."

Read the Larchmont Times news article.

After several minutes the jet reached the shoreline, but the controls stuck. Once the jet crossed the shore and was over the Sound just beyond Larchmont, Lieutenant O'Connell ejected. His parachute deployed and he descended toward the water.

At the Schaefer estate at 1 Bay Avenue, Mrs. Schaefer and her daughter heard the plane go over. As in a scene from an Alfred Hitchcock movie, the now-unpiloted jet began to arc, making a gradual u-turn in their direction. Mrs. Schaefer believed the jet was going to crash into her home, she reported immediately after the accident.

Read an account by the pilot's wife.

In Yonkers, Sandra Ballard had just called her daughter and a friend into the house when she heard "what sounded like a bomb coming down." The exhaust section of the jet had landed where the children had been playing. "I had just called them into the house. I didn't have any good reason. I just called them in," she said.

The jet continued its gradual arc toward the Schaefer's home, losing altitude. Finally, it exploded into the seawall just in front. Rocks, airplane parts and debris scattered over a 100-yard area. The sound of the explosion prompted numerous calls to the police and fire departments. Firefighters arrived and knocked down four separate flaming chunks of wreckage.

Dr. Hoffman treats First Lieutenant O'Connell in his Larchmont Avenue office.

Thomas Thompson was operating the launch at the Larchmont Yacht Club. Seeing the pilot parachuting toward the water, he headed in the direction of the parachute. He reached the pilot, who was badly burned on the face and arms, but alive. He retrieved him from the water and headed ashore. Dr. Herman Hofman met the launch at the shore, and took the pilot to his office at 214 Larchmont Avenue.

"It was obvious the pilot was in trouble and his best bet was to head for open water and aviod hitting a residential area," explained Larchmont Police Chief William Keresey. He also noted, "Reports to the Police Department, however, indicate how good a demonstration this crash was, to show how panicky people can get under stress. Several persons along the waterfront called and were in a rather dazed condition although, actually, no resident was hurt by the accident."

Village Engineer Frank Griffin observed that the pilot should be praised for "staying with his plane long enough to direct it over open water. I thought it remarkable that he got out at all and that nobody was seriously injured."

Air Force safety and salvage officers and men quickly arrived from Mitchell Field in Long Island to investigate the crash scene. One of the lead investigators, Major Rothfey McKeegan, commended the Larchmont firemen and police officers who responded immediately after the crash. He said that it might have been worse had it not been for their effective firefighting and rescue work.

See pictures from the investigation.

  At Dr. Hoffman’s office, Thursday noon, Lieutenant O’Connell said he had only six months of a four-year tour to complete before release from duty. He is a University of Michigan graduate, married and the father of one child. He later modestly observed "This is what we get flying pay for."

Read the local Commendations

Lieutenant O'Connell was commended for his bravery and skill by the Larchmont Village Board and the Mamaroneck Town Council. Following the investigation, the U.S. Air Force awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross, with the following commendation:

First Lieutenant Donald R. O'Connell distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism while participating in aereal flight on June 10, 1954. While he was flying over the densely populated City of Yonkers, New York, an explosion occured in the early model jet fighter which Lieutenant O'Connell was ferrying to Bradley Field, Connecticut. Despite the intense fire which raged in the cockpit, Lieutenant O'Connel, electing to remain with his disabled aircraft, immediately altered his course to the east where the waters of Long Island Sound would minimize the danger to life and property should a crash ensue. Displaying exemplary courage and flying skill, Lieutenant O'Connell maintained this course until complete loss of control forced him to abandon his aircraft, which crashed in a remote location of Larchmont Bay resulting in negligible property damage and no loss of life. By his outstanfing fortitude and selfless concern for his fellow man, Lieutenent O'Connell has reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

Larchmonter Jerome Wanshel drew another lesson from the incident - one that echos through the years: "This points up or problem because even the pilot knew the safest place for everybody concerned was the Sound. I know he had no choice, but the airlines do. They can use the Sound instead of taking the unnecessary risk of passing over our Village. It's time residents here pooled their efforts with those of the Town and Village of Mamaroneck to request the airlines to route their planes directly down the Sound and to cease using our area for a shortcut."

Editor's note: If you witnessed the crash, contact us and tell us your version of the event. We will try to include some of the comments in an article in 1954 Year in Review.

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