Plane Crash On South Wyoming Street - Greater Hazleton Historical Society

In an attempt to promote knowledge on local history, Hazleton News 1 has been working in an effort to collect posts and information from the Greater Hazleton Historical Society and Museum:

In October 1955, a St. Gabriel’s parishioner crashed his single-engine plane into the roof of the church.

The two-seater Cessna 140 piloted by Francis O'Donnell ended up crashing behind residences on South Wyoming Street.

Amazingly, only the plane’s occupants were injured in the neighborhood.

The Standard-Sentinel reported that the pilot used the church steeple “as a pylon in banking the turns.”