Kennedy plane crash recalled

SOUTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) - Senator Edward Kennedy nearly lost his life 45 years ago when his small plane crashed in Southampton.

Kennedy spent several weeks hospitalized in Northampton after suffering a broken back in the crash.

On a foggy night in June of 1964, the senator’s plane crashed in Bashista Apple Orchards in Southampton on approach to Barnes Airport in Westfield.

The pilot and Kennedy's aide were killed. Kennedy broke his back and spent several weeks hospitalized at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.

Dr. George Snook, an orthopedic surgeon,  was called in the night of the crash.  He said  Kennedy's  spine was shattered.  He said the injury was very bad, that Kennedy’s back had been smashed in many places.

The doctor said that Kennedy was fortunate he didn't suffer paralysis as a result of the accident.

At Cooley Dickinson Hospital, scrapbooks recall the senator's hospitalization there so many year's ago.

Kennedy remains the hospital's most famous patient.

Jean Bashista of Bashista Apple Orchards, recalls that night and how her sister-in-law helped the injured senator, as he lay on the ground after the crash, before medical personnel arrived.

Bashista said after the plane crash her father-in-law and her father got rid of the orchard at the crash site. Today it is a wooded area.