AD-6 Skyraider Crash | New England Aviation History

Quonset Point, R. I. – December 18, 1960

September 7, 2026

Quonset Point, NAS – December 18, 1960

Douglas Skyraider
U. S. Navy Photo

On December 18, 1960, a lone navy pilot took off from Corpus Christi, Texas, in a AD-6 Skyraider (bu. No. 139795) bound for the Quonset Point Naval Air Station in Rhode Island. The aircraft arrived over Rhode Island after dark. As the pilot was making his landing, he ran off the end of the runway and into a snow bank where the plane flipped over. The pilot suffered minor injuries and the plane was damaged.

Source:

Providence Journal, “Navy Plane Flips Over At Runway End At Quonset”, December 19, 1960.

North Kingstown, R. I. – August 9, 1961

June 29, 2020

North Kingstown, Rhode Island – August 9, 1961

Douglas Skyraider
U. S. Navy Photo

On August 9, 1961, two U. S. Navy AD-6 Skyraider aircraft took off from the Quonset Point Naval Air Station for a routine a training flight. Within a few miles of the air station, at an altitude of about 9,600 feet, the aircraft were involved in a mid-air collision over the town of North Kingstown. One pilot bailed out safely and came down in a wooded area behind St. Bernard’s Church. His aircraft crashed and burned in the same wooded area. The other pilot remained with his aircraft and crashed in a body of water known as Belleville Pond. (Another source states “Secret Lake” which is to the immediate south of Belleville Pond.) The pilot received serious injuries in the crash, and local residents swam to his aid and kept his head above water until rescue vehicles arrived. Once ashore the pilot was transported to Newport Naval Hospital via helicopter.

Sources:

The Standard, (North Kingstown), “Local Residents Aid In Plane Crash Rescue”, August 10, 1961, page 1.

The Rhode Island Pendulum, “Navy Probes Crash Of 2 Quonset Pilots; One Is seriously Injured”, August 10, 1961