In 1947, three accidents involved the Gratz Airport, Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. Two of the accidents were fatal. The third occurred in October 1947 and involved a man who had rented a plane from the Gratz Airport to travel to Lancaster, Lancaster County, and on return, he crash landed the plane on a farm east of Middletown, Dauphin County. Fortunately, no one was killed.
Area newspapers reported on the crash. From the Harrisburg Telegraph, 21 October 1947:
Two Men Escape Injury in Crash of Rented Plane
A small plane rented from the Gratz Airport and piloted by Harry Mace, 29, Williamstown, made a crash landing in the Coble Farm, just east of Middletown on Route 441, late yesterday afternoon, but Mace and a passenger, Joseph Wood, 24, of Tower City, escaped injury.
Mace said he was returning from visiting a friend in Lancaster when the motor stopped, then operated again in time to permit hims to avoid high tension wires and a fence.
Damage to the plane included the landing gear, wings, propeller and part of the engine cowling.
An ambulance and fire-fighting equipment was rushed to the farm from the Middletown Air Depot, but Depot officials said it was not needed.
_______________________________________
News article from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.