Hillsgrove Airport – May 14, 1947

     Hillsgrove Airport – May 14, 1947

Warwick, Rhode Island

     On the afternoon of May 14, 1947, a Bell helicopter containing a student pilot and an instructor took off from Hillsgrove Airport in Warwick.  (Today the airport is known as T. F. Green)  Just after take off, according to witnesses, the aircraft was about 200 feet in the air when one of the rotor blades suddenly broke away. 

     The helicopter fell and burst into flame.  Two women who witnessed the crash, Mrs. George Page, and Mrs. William Buell, ran to the site and managed to pull one of the men from the wreckage.  Unfortunately, despite the rescue effort, both men aboard the helicopter perished.  They were identified as: Robert F. Chott, 29, of Providence, the instructor, and Gardiner Watts, 27, of Boston, the student.    

     Sources:

     New York Times, “2 In Helicopter Killed” May 15, 1947 

     Unknown Paper, “Helicopter Crash Kills Two In Mass.”, May 15, 1947.  Headline should read R.I., not “Mass.”

     The Pawtucket Times, “Copter Parts Studied For Wreck Clues”, May 16, 1947, pg. 9

     Niagra Falls Gazette, “Bell Copter Death Case Is Resumed”, November 12, 1955.  Article pertains to a lawsuit relating to the accident. 

    

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