Exeter, Rhode Island – July 11, 1948

     Shortly before noon on July 11, 1948, two Warwick men, both in their early 20s, were in a rented PT-23 trainer aircraft flying over Exeter.  When they reached Boon Lake the men decided to “buzz” the cottage occupied by the parents of one of them.  Witnesses related how the plane came in out of the north and dropped very low over the water.  At the end of the run the plane banked sharply just before the cottage at which time the left wing tip struck the water causing the plane to crash into some trees at the shoreline.  The aircraft was demolished but did not catch fire.

     It wasn’t until the two severely injured men were removed from the wreckage that the parents realized one of them was their son.  Both men were treated by a doctor at the scene and then transported to Westerly Hospital where they later succumbed to their injuries. 

     The trainer aircraft was equipped with dual controls, and it was uncertain which of the men had been in control at the time of the crash. 

     Source: The Rhode Island Pendulum, “Two Warwick Vets Die In Plane Crash”, July 15, 1948