It was nearly two years after World War Two (1939–1945) had ended, but to some it may have seemed like aircraft were being shot out of the sky at Lake George, New York.
It was Saturday afternoon, July 12, 1947. A light monoplane was making a landing on the lake surface in the Diamond Point vicinity when the amphibious aircraft unexpectedly plunged into the waterway.
One news story reported the plane’s engine stalled, and the aircraft fell about 100 feet before hitting the lake surface. Another report was a gust of wind contributed to the crash.
The seaplane carried three people – a mother, father, and their two-year-old daughter. The family, from North Bergen, New Jersey, was on a “pleasure trip” to Lake George.
Tragically, the airplane mishap resulted in the mom being killed from a head fracture, the child drowned, and the dad suffered a broken leg, rib injuries, a lacerated scalp, and internal injuries. The battered man miraculously managed to swim to shore.
He was taken to the hospital, listed in serious condition, but survived the aviation accident. A state trooper received a bad cut to a foot from diving into the shallow water attempting to recover the bodies.
When word of the tragic accident quickly spread around the lake community, a second aircraft flew over the crash site. Incredibly, it, too, plummeted into the water near the exact spot of the first aviation incident.
A marina operator from the south end of the lake owned the local plane. One of his employees, a resident of the Village of Lake George, piloted the relief flight. The second plane was flying over the initial crash site to inspect the situation.
Newspapers later recorded that the second plane was searching for aircraft wreckage on the lake surface when it nosed down to get a better look.
One of the plane’s wings unexpectedly grazed the water and the craft dunked into the waterway. The Lake George pilot received a broken left elbow and a cut right hand.
Motorboat crews recovered both aircraft from shallow water.
Two plane crashes on the same day and at the same spot is indeed an improbability. Aviation records from decades ago are scarce. However, airplane accident experts today tell us the chances of being killed in a plane crash are 1 in 11 million.
So, July 12, 1947 was one of those unimaginable days at Lake George. It was the day that airplanes fell from the sky, defying the odds of aviation.
Read more about New York State’s aviation history.
A version of this article first appeared on the Lake George Mirror, America’s oldest resort paper, covering Lake George and its surrounding environs. You can subscribe to the Mirror HERE.
Illustrations, from above: Postcard showing the area just north of Diamond Point (C. W. Hughes & Co.); and the writer’s drawing of a 1947 event depicting a crashed seaplane in Lake George (left) and another aircraft coming to investigate (courtesy Joseph W. Zarzynski).
