Narragansett, Rhode Island – May 4, 1952

     On May 4, 1952, two men took off from the Smithfield Airport in a small airplane and flew to Block Island.  The pilot had purchased the airplane about a year earlier.  After visiting the island, the men took off to head back to Smithfield.  Along the way the pilot flew over the Point Judith area of Narragansett where he had a summer home.  While circling over his home at a low altitude the aircraft struck a pole and sheared off the left wing before crashing seventy-five feet away. 

     The pilot received minor injuries but his passenger was critically injured. 

     The crash was blamed on the pilot, who had been warned in the past about flying too low – as recently as 48 hours before the accident. 

     Source:

     Evening Bulletin, “Pilot Blamed In Point Judith Plane Crash”, May 28, 1952, page 18.