North Kingstown, Rhode Island – April 11, 1945
North American Texan Military Trainer
Author Photo
On the afternoon of April 11, 1945, a U. S. Navy SNJ-5 “Texan” trainer aircraft, (Bu. No. 43893), took off from the Quonset Point Naval Air Station in North Kingstown with two men aboard. The purpose of the flight was to test a newly installed “flight attitude” gauge in the rear cockpit. As the pilot was putting the aircraft through a series of aerobatic maneuvers the engine suddenly lost all power and the plane went into a stall. The aircraft then fell into a short spin and crashed killing both men.
The pilot was identified as CAP USN Francisco P. Brunetti, 25, and the rear cockpit passenger was identified as AMM3/c John C. Costner, 23.
The location of this accident listed in the navy report was “Washington, R.I.”, however there is no such town, but there is a Washington County, R.I. Within Washington County are the towns of Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Narragansett, North Kingstown, Richmond, South Kingstown, and Westerly. After contacting town halls form those towns, it was learned that the death records for this accident are kept at North Kingstown, Book 6, Page 335. Therefore it is surmised the accident occurred in North Kingstown.
Source:
U. S. Navy accident report dated April 11, 1945
