Many Airplanes At Tie-Downs Completely Destroyed

Among the spate of tornadoes that ripped across the country earlier this month was one that touched down in Springfield, MA, and continued on through the town of Southbridge. An ANN reader sent us these photos of the Southbridge, MA, airport (3B0) in the aftermath of the June 1st storm.

According to our reader and media reports, three people in Springfield and one in Brimfield, MA, died because of the storm. These airplanes at 3B0 also did not fare well.

"Although I was not able to gain direct access to the airport site, I was able to get these pictures," Howard Whyte said in his e-mail to ANN. "From where I stood, ALL the tied down aircraft were destroyed.  Not just overturned, but in some cases, were actually shredded into pieces no larger than 2 feet square."

Whyte also said hangars were damaged and destroyed, but he was not able to confirm the damage of the contents, or whether airplanes tied down at the other end of the field survived the tornado.

However, the Worcester Business Journal described the airport, including the hangar, as being "in ruins."

FMI: http://ci.southbridge.ma.us/airport.asp