Fall River, MA. – May 11, 1983

Fall River, Massachusetts – May 11, 1983 

     At 6:00 a.m. on the morning of May 11, 1983, a 57-year-old pilot took off from New Bedford Airport in a single-engine, two-seat, fiberglass aircraft that he’d built himself.  Construction of the aircraft had taken two years, and cost $12,000.  The purpose of the flight was to log flight hours on the airplane.  Previous to this flight, the pilot had logged 18 flight hours with it. 

     At about 8:00 a.m., while flying at an altitude of 2,000 feet over the Fall River area, the engine suddenly quit.  The pilot attempted to make a “beeline” to Fall River Municipal Airport but found he was losing altitude too quickly, so he aimed for an open stretch of Riggenbach Road about a half-mile east of the airport.  As it came down, the airplane skimmed some tree tops which tore off the wings.  The fuselage remained intact and when it hit the ground there was no fire. Remarkably, the pilot was not injured, and credited his seatbelt for saving his life. 

     It was reported that the suspected cause of the accident was ice forming in the carburetor.  

     Source:

     Providence Evening Bulletin, “Just ‘Cooking Along’ When The Engine Quit”, May 12, 1983, page C-5

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