Coventry, Rhode Island – June 8, 1975
On June 8, 1975, a 49-year-old pilot from Niantic, Connecticut, landed at RICONN Airport in western Coventry for an outing of the Southeastern Connecticut Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association. The aircraft the pilot landed in was referred to in the newspapers as a “Baby Ace”, (registration no. N4184A) , and was a single-engine, single-seat, home-built airplane, with a canvas covered steel frame. The plane had been built more than ten years earlier, and had been flown extensively without incident. Furthermore, the aircraft had recently passed its annual inspection.
RICONN Airport has a grass filed in which planes take off and land. At about 3:40 p.m. the pilot took off from the field for his intended destination of Waterford, Connecticut, but shortly after becoming airborne the aircraft lost power and stalled. Witnesses saw the plane dive to the ground from an altitude of about 250 feet and crash in a wooded area about a quarter of a mile from the field, where it burst into flames. The pilot did not survive.
Sources:
New London Day, “Niantic Man Dies In Crash”, June 9, 1975 – with photo of aircraft.
Providence Journal, “Two Pilots Killed In Crashes”, June 9, 1975, Page 1. – with photo of crash scene. (The second crash referred to in the headline happened in Massachusetts.)