Woonsocket, Rhode Island – June 16, 1946
On June 16, 1946, a 21-year-old man took off from Mineral Spring Airport in Lincoln in a rented airplane. He’d had his pilot’s license for about 18 months.
While flying over Woonsocket the aircraft developed engine trouble and the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing. He saw Dunn Memorial Park on Mason Street and aimed for it, but as he approached he saw children playing on the field. To avoid the children, he was forced to re-aim the airplane towards a small hill at the edge of the park where he crashed into an embankment. The aircraft was wrecked and the pilot was critically injured.
A witness to the crash was a registered nurse living at 370 Mason Street. She immediately ran to the scene an administered first-aid to the pilot prior to the arrival of an ambulance.
The Aircraft was owned by American Aircraft Inc. at Mineral Spring Airport.
Sources:
Woonsocket Call, “Student Pilot Hurt In Crash”, June 17, 1946
Providence Journal, “Flyer Badly Hurt Avoiding Children” June 17, 1946
