Last month I was sitting in an exam room at Main Line Health on the Ellis College campus when the building lost power. In the dark, I decided to meditate – closed my eyes and let my thoughts flow. What had passed through the space where I was now sitting – 3 floors up? Birds, balloons from a celebration, maybe an old tree had once occupied this space? And then an airplane came whizzing past and crashed below me. Governor George Earle at the controls.
George Howard Earle III had a home off of what is now Earle’s Lane in Newtown Square. He was a businessman, military veteran, sportsman (polo), hunter, fisherman and dog breeder. He 
won the Navy Cross for “heroic and inspiring leadership” in organizing the effort to save his ship from exploding. And from 1935-39, he was the Governor of Pennsylvania.
In 1938 the Governor started flying lessons and soloed in June. On July 20th, with just ten solo hours under his belt, he took off from Harrisburg, telling his instructor he was going up for practice. In fact, he had an appointment later that day in Philadelphia. He headed east but ran into thick fog over Essington where he had intended to land. He circled in the fog for 90 minutes looking for an opening, but with his gas getting low, he headed
back to familiar turf in Newtown. Seeing open space, with the motor sputtering, he dropped out of the soup and made a bumpy landing on the front lawn of Ellis College. He stuck the landing but the grass was wet, he could not brake in time and so the plane hit a small maple tree. “My safety belt saved me. It kept me from going right through the windshield,” he shared.
Foxall MacElree and George H. Gray were driving by and witnessed the crash. They helped pry open the door and
were surprised to see the Governor step out, with some sore parts but otherwise intact. He stopped at the nearby home of Mrs. E. Ruttan to call his wife and let her know he was safe. Then MacElree drove him to Philadelphia for his meeting. I could find no crash photos – State Police descended on the scene and confiscated the film of everyone with a camera.
I had heard about the crash years ago. Funny how my brain made that connection and led to this story.
For more history on Newtown Square, Delaware County, and membership info, visit our website at NSHistory.org.