Coventry/West Greenwich, Rhode Island – April 24, 1946
Updated April 2, 2026
F4U Corsair
US Navy Photo
On the afternoon of April 24, 1946, two navy F4U Corsairs, (Bu. Nos. 81416 and 81312) took off from the Quonset Point Naval Air Station for a routine training flight. At 3:17 P.M., while over the Lake Mishnock area of Coventry, R. I., the aircraft were involved in a mid-air collision. Moments later, the pilot of one plane (#81416) bailed out. His Corsair came down and crashed onto a house on Nooseneck Road in West Greenwich, and exploded, killing a mother and her 2-year-old son.
Despite a damaged wing, the pilot of the other Corsair, (81312), managed to make it back to the Quonset Naval Air Station.
Both planes were assigned to VBF-82.
The dead were identified as Mrs. Eva Parenteau, 30, and her son Raymond. Mrs. Parenteau’s other two children, Phillip, 9, and Joseph, 8, were playing in a nearby yard at the time and weren’t injured.
Sources:
Evening Bulletin, “Two Navy Planes Collide In Mid-Air-Over Coventry”, April 24, 1946, pg. 7.
Woonsocket Call, “Mother, Baby Killed, Plane Crash Probed”, April 25, 1946, Pg. 1
