Archaeological Sleuths Hunt For Site Of Bradley Airport Namesake's Fatal Crash

It's what state archaeologist Nick Bellantoni calls ``a history mystery.''

It starts at Bradley International Airport, a familiar name to millions in Connecticut and New England.

Some may even know the airport is named for Lt. Eugene Bradley, a World War II pilot who crashed his Curtiss P-40 during a practice flight on Aug. 21, 1941. He was killed when the plane plowed into the scrubby woods surrounding the new Army air base.

But somehow, after all these years, the exact location of the crash site has been lost.

Bellantoni and a small group of history buffs have begun some detective work in an effort to pinpoint the site. They've checked old aerial photos, taken soil samples and scanned the earth with metal detectors. In time, they plan to bring in ground-penetrating radar that can probe dozens of feet below the surface.

The result may be the placement of a memorial marker -- or at least a final answer to a 65-year-old question.

``Every now and then, someone approaches me with a project that just intrigues me,'' said Bellantoni, who said he always savors an opportunity to demonstrate the practical value of archaeological research.

He has unearthed Native American sites in the state dating back 10,000 years. He has helped find an 18th-century graveyard for prisoners at Old New-Gate Prison in East Granby. That project took almost two years, Bellantoni said, and solving the mystery at Bradley might take as long or longer.

It is worth the effort ``to resurrect that history,'' he said. ``It's an intriguing story out of our past, and it deserves to be studied. To find the spot, and possibly to memorialize it, would be important to the memory of not only Eugene Bradley, but the Army Air Corps.''

Among Bellantoni's partners in the hunt is Tom Palshaw, who services planes at the Bombardier Corp. hangar on the east side of the airport. Palshaw also volunteers doing historical research at the New England Air Museum. In 1998, he published a detailed history of Bradley Airport's first 25 years.

But missing from the book is a description of where the airport's namesake died.

``This is just one of the questions that have always lingered in the background and never got answered,'' Palshaw said.

Soldiers who served with Bradley recall him as a quiet 24-year-old from Oklahoma who was well-liked and was always eager to fly.

Bradley's fatal accident occurred during a simulated aerial dogfight with Frank Mears, commander of the 64th Pursuit Squadron. The plane Bradley was flying spun out of control as he went into a sharp turn at about 5,000 feet.

Stunned witnesses saw the plane spiral slowly into a grove of trees. Soon a column of smoke arose. They theorize that the young pilot blacked out from the gravitational forces felt during such a sharp aerial turn.

Over the years, conversations with airport officials and a review of state records and aerial photographs yielded some clues about the crash site.

``I asked the [state Department of Transportation], and they said it's off the end of Runway 33 somewhere,'' Palshaw said. Witnesses said the plane dug deep into sandy soil, submerging most of its fuselage ``like a lawn dart,'' he said.

Palshaw has focused his search on that general area, between the current Air National Guard base and the New England Air Museum.

Using an aerial photo taken in December 1941-- four months after the crash -- and comparing it with other period photos, Palshaw was able to pin down four possible crash sites along the airport perimeter road. The sites, labeled A through D, lie within a quarter-mile of one another.

None of the sites shows a hole or depression. One is on an old abandoned dirt road heading north toward Suffield. Another shows up in the 1941 photo as merely a road leading to a clearing in the woods.