Seekonk, MA. – July 26, 1975

Seekonk, Massachusetts – July 26, 1975

     Shortly before noon on the morning of July 26, 1975, a 52-year-old man from Cranston, R.I., was piloting his home-built BD-4 single-engine experimental aircraft over Seekonk when the engine began to run erratically.  According to one witnesses, it appeared that he was attempting to make an emergency landing on the first fairway at the Ledgemont Country Club, but after seeing that golfers were on the fairway, steered the craft towards the tenth fairway.  There the nose and one wing struck the turf and the plane flipped over and burst into flames.  Several caddies ran to assist, and dragged the mortally injured pilot out of the wreckage.   

     The pilot had taken off from North Central Airport in Smithfield, R.I., and was on his way to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, when the accident occurred.  He’d built the airplane at his home in Cranston in 1970. 

     Source:

     Providence Sunday Journal, Plane Crash In Seekonk Kills Pilot”, July 27, 1975.  (With photo of crash site.) 

Bethany, CT. – March 2, 1932

Bethany, Connecticut – March 2, 1932

     On the afternoon of March 2, 1932, Elliot R. McCune, (27), took off from Bethany Airport in a Cairns Airplane, (Ser. No. X-329V) for a test flight.  (He has been mistakenly identified as Ellis McKeon in some newspaper accounts.)

     The aircraft belonged to the Cairns Aircraft Corporation of 62 Rubber Avenue, Naugatuck, Connecticut, and was registered as experimental.   It was of a sleek mono-wing design, built entirely of metal.  The airplane was originally fitted with a 90 h.p. motor, but that had recently been replaced by a 165 h.p. motor.

     McCune was an experienced pilot and well known throughout New England having flown as a stunt-pilot and “barnstormer”.   He’d observed the experimental aircraft during several recent visits to the airport and was granted permission to fly it.  Prior to the flight he’d been informed that the airplane had been flown several times the previous day where it had been subjected to stunt flying without any negative results.

     While high over the area of the airport, McCune began putting the airplane through a series of aerobatic maneuvers, during which one of the wings suddenly broke away.  As the aircraft plunged towards the earth McCune appeared to bail out, but at the time he left the plane he was barely 500 feet from the ground and his chute didn’t have time to open.  The airplane was destroyed on impact, and McCune’s body landed several hundred feet away.   It was further reported that he may have been struck in the head by a portion of the wing when it separated from the aircraft. 

     Bethany Airport closed in 1965.

     Updated May 14, 2019

     The Cairns Aircraft Corporation was established by Captain Edmund B. Cairns in 1928, and between 1931 and 1932 the company manufactured five experimental aircraft which were tested at the Bethany Airport. 

     The aircraft were all-metal mono-planes with radial engines.  They carried two people, seated in tandem, in pen cockpits.  The landing gear was equipped with wheel fairings for better aerodynamics.     

     The engines were designed by the Kimball Aircraft Corporation, founded by Leo B. Kimball of New Haven, Connecticut.  The Kimball Corp. was in operation from 1927 to about 1932.   Kimball and Cairns reportedly collaborated on the five experimental aircraft. 

     What happened to the other aircraft is unknown.

     Source: Atlantic Flyer, “Connecticut Historian looking For Cairns Aircraft”, July, 1993, page A-20 

     Other Sources:

     Unknown newspaper, “Pilot Killed In Plane Crash At Bethany”, unknown date.

     Waterbury Republican, Scene Of Air Tragedy In Bethany”, (photo and caption.)  

     New Haven Journal-Courier, “Wing Torn From Plane In Dive”, (Photo), March 3, 1932    

     Naugatuck News, “State Investigating Bethany Air Crash”, unknown date.

     New Haven Evening Register, “Wrecked Plane That Cost Wallingford Man’s Life”, March 3, 1932, page 1

     New Haven Evening Register, “Girl sees Flier Plunge To Death”, March 3, 1932        

 

Lincoln, R. I. – June 22, 1982

Lincoln, Rhode Island – June 22, 1982

     On the evening of June 22, 1982, a lone 42-year-old pilot took off from North Central State Airport in Smithfield, R. I. for a pleasure flight in his home-built, Davis model DA-2A, with the word “Experimental” on the side.  The plans for building such aircraft, it was reported, were available through magazines, and the pilot had built his in 1978.  It was approved by the FAA and the pilot had flown the aircraft many times without incident.

     About fifteen minutes into the flight the aircraft developed engine trouble, and crashed on the green near the sixth hole at Lincoln Country Club on Dexter Rock Road.   The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was killed instantly, but nobody on the ground was injured.

     One witness reported hearing a loud “pop” from the engine just before the crash. 

     Sources:

     Woonsocket Call, “Pilot Is Killed In Lincoln Crash”, June 23, 1982

     Pawtucket Evening Times, “A Sputter And It Was All Over”, June 23, 1982, page 1. (With photo)

     Pawtucket Evening Times, “Plane Crash Puzzles Pilots”, June 23, 1982, page 24

     Providence Evening Bulletin, “Pilot Killed In Lincoln Plane Crash”, June 23, 1982, page A-11, (With Photo)

     The Sun, (Westerly, RI), “Victim Of Airplane Crash Was An Experienced Pilot”, June 24, 1982, page 16

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