North Kingstown, Rhode Island – April 22, 1944
Updated July 7, 2017
On the afternoon of Saturday, April 22, 1944, two F6F-3 Hellcats assigned to VF-7 at Quonset Point Naval Air Station, collided in mid-air over the Quonset Manor neighborhood of North Kingstown. Both pilots were killed.
One plane sheared the tail off the other while both planes were several hundred feet in the air.
One of the Hellcats, (Bu. No. 42706), piloted by Ensign Joseph Clyde Rust, 22, of Alliance, Nebraska, crashed on King Phillip Drive and exploded.
The other Hellcat, (Bu. No. 41965), piloted by Ensign Oswald Eugene Asplundh Jr., 21, of Glenview, Illinois, crashed and burned to the waterline in Sawmill Pond.
Update: The accident occurred while a flight of three Hellcats was flying in a Vee formation at 4,000 feet. The flight leader, flying at the point of the Vee, suddenly began to pull away from the formation, and Ensigns Rust and Asplundh attempted to follow, and that’s when the collision occurred.
Source:
Providence Journal, “2 Planes Collide At Quonset Manor”, April 23, 1944, Pg. 1
The Standard, “Two Planes Crash At Quonset Manor”, April 27, 1944, Pg. 1
U.S. Navy Accident Report