New Bedford, Massachusetts – April 4, 1943
On April 4, 1943, 2nd Lieutenant Fred V. Bright, Jr. took off from Hillsgrove Army Airfield in Warwick, Rhode Island, for a routine training flight in a P-47C Thunderbolt, (Ser. No. 41-6562). While over New Bedford, Massachusetts, Lt. Bright radioed the control tower at Hillsgrove that he was having problems with the aircraft and would be making an emergency landing at the New Bedford Airport which he happened to be passing over at the time. As he was making his final approach his plane was seen to crash and burn about 100 yards from the end of the runway.
Lt. Bright was survived by his wife living in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126299560/fred-v-bright
Sources:
Book, “Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents In The United States, 1941-1945”, by Anthony J. Mireles, C. 2006.
The Waterbury Democrat, “Pilot Identified”, April 5, 1943