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LT John Patrick Fitzmaurice III

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LT John Patrick Fitzmaurice III

Birth
Waterbury, New Haven County, Connecticut, USA
Death
4 Jul 1966 (aged 28)
Pennfield, Calhoun County, Michigan, USA
Burial
Burial Details Unknown Add to Map
Memorial ID
View Source
born ca.1938

Lieutenant
Crew #6 Copilot
Patrol Squadron 19 (VP-19)
US Navy
† Died in Military Service †

Copilot, Lt. John P. Fitzmaurice, III, Waterbury, Conn, of the US Navy Patrol Squadron 19 was killed July 4, 1966 northeast of Battle Creek, Michigan when his Naval Lockheed P-3A Orion crashed.

With thanks to Dave Trojan, the following is a crash summary: "Lockheed P-3A Orion, BuNo. 152172, construction number 185-5142, assigned to Patrol Squadron 19 (VP-19), Radio call sign Papa Echo Zero Five (PE-05), crashed 4 July 1966, seven miles Northeast Battle Creek, MI. The P-3A Orion was on the return leg of a cross country airways training flight from New York-Floyd Bennett Field, NJ to Naval Air Station Moffett Field, CA via Naval Air Station, Glenview, IL."

"The plane was flying at 22,000 feet and made a normal routine radio call at 2035 (8:35pm Zulu time, 2:35pm local Michigan time), but by 2040 the plane had crashed in a wooded area. The aircraft was observed by witnesses to have emerged from overcast clouds at about 3000 feet in a diving right turn. It then made a left turn and then back to the right before plummeting to the ground. It was estimated that the plane crashed at a speed of just over 500 miles per hour and at an angle of 60 degrees at the time of impact."

"The P-3A Orion weighed about 63,000 lbs and the Navy recovered approximately 53,000 pounds of wreckage from the crash site." The cause was unable to be determined.

A new re-investigation by Dave Trojan is ongoing, using modern techniques and new information gathered from historical research to determine the most likely cause of this accident.
born ca.1938

Lieutenant
Crew #6 Copilot
Patrol Squadron 19 (VP-19)
US Navy
† Died in Military Service †

Copilot, Lt. John P. Fitzmaurice, III, Waterbury, Conn, of the US Navy Patrol Squadron 19 was killed July 4, 1966 northeast of Battle Creek, Michigan when his Naval Lockheed P-3A Orion crashed.

With thanks to Dave Trojan, the following is a crash summary: "Lockheed P-3A Orion, BuNo. 152172, construction number 185-5142, assigned to Patrol Squadron 19 (VP-19), Radio call sign Papa Echo Zero Five (PE-05), crashed 4 July 1966, seven miles Northeast Battle Creek, MI. The P-3A Orion was on the return leg of a cross country airways training flight from New York-Floyd Bennett Field, NJ to Naval Air Station Moffett Field, CA via Naval Air Station, Glenview, IL."

"The plane was flying at 22,000 feet and made a normal routine radio call at 2035 (8:35pm Zulu time, 2:35pm local Michigan time), but by 2040 the plane had crashed in a wooded area. The aircraft was observed by witnesses to have emerged from overcast clouds at about 3000 feet in a diving right turn. It then made a left turn and then back to the right before plummeting to the ground. It was estimated that the plane crashed at a speed of just over 500 miles per hour and at an angle of 60 degrees at the time of impact."

"The P-3A Orion weighed about 63,000 lbs and the Navy recovered approximately 53,000 pounds of wreckage from the crash site." The cause was unable to be determined.

A new re-investigation by Dave Trojan is ongoing, using modern techniques and new information gathered from historical research to determine the most likely cause of this accident.

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