Tiverton, R.I. – July 4, 1994

February 19, 2021

Tiverton, Rhode Island – July 4, 1994

     At 10 a.m. on July 4, 1994, a 42-year-old man took off from the Fall River Airport in a home-built ultralight aircraft and set off for a shoreline flight along Mount Hope Bay towards Rhode Island.  Awhile later he turned inland over Horizon Drive in the town of Tiverton.  According to a witness, the aircraft was at an altitude of about 350 feet when its engine suddenly stopped.  As the plane began to drop the pilot deployed the emergency parachute but it was not enough to slow the plane enough to prevent it from crashing about twenty feet from a home on Horizon Drive.   The pilot was killed instantly. 

     Source: Providence Journal, “Ultralight Plane Crashes In Tiverton; Pilot Killed”, July 5, 1994, page A-1

Filed Under: Rhode Island - Civil Tagged With: , , , ,

Fall River, MA. – June 4, 1989

February 19, 2021

Fall River, Massachusetts – June 4, 1989 

     On the evening of June 4, 1989, a 30-year-old man took off from a runway at the Fall River Airport in a home-built ultralight “gyrocopter” aircraft.  A few seconds after take off, when at an altitude of between 50 to 60 feet, the aircraft suddenly dove to the ground.  Several witnesses ran to aid the pilot and began CPR, but the pilot did not survive.  The accident was videotaped by the pilot’s girlfriend.   

     Source: Providence Journal, “Pilot Killed In Gyrocopter Crash”, June 6, 1989, page E-3.  

Filed Under: Massachusetts - Civil Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Woonsocket, R. I. – August 19, 1983

February 16, 2021

Woonsocket, Rhode Island – August 19, 1983 

     On August 19, 1983, and 41-year-old Uxbridge, Massachusetts, man was piloting a one-passenger Ultralight Wizard over Woonsocket when a spark plug wire became disconnected causing the engine to fail.  The homemade aircraft went onto a nose dive and crashed in Cold Spring Park next to a chain link fence about thirty feet from the Blackstone River.  The pilot was transported to Woonsocket Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. 

     The pilot had taken off earlier from behind the Cocke & Kettle restaurant in Uxbridge. 

     Source: Providence Journal, “Ultralight Pilot Injured In Crash”, August 21, 1983, page C-14

Filed Under: Rhode Island - Civil Tagged With: , , , , ,

Richmond, R. I. – September 6, 1986

May 13, 2019

Richmond, Rhode Island – September 6, 1986 

     At about 4:45 p.m. on September 6, 1986, a 42-year-old man from Coventry, R. I., was flying over Richmond Airport in an ultralight aircraft when the fabric on the left wing ripped as he came out of a dive.  The pilot aimed the aircraft towards  a wooded area at the edge of the field and released a parachute designed to be deployed in emergencies.  Just as he did so more wing fabric tore away and the chute became entangled in the landing gear.  The plane crashed through the trees and the pilot was critically injured.

     Source:

     Providence Journal Bulletin, “Pilot Is Hurt As Ultralight Plummets 1,000 Feet”, unknown date.

     Providence Sunday Journal, “Two R. I. Ultralight Crashes Bring Debate Closer To Home”, October 19, 1986, C Section, page 1.  

     The Sun, (Westerly, R. I.), “Pilot Saw Wing Cloth Tear, Then Knew He Would Crash”, November 23, 1986, page 10.  

Filed Under: Rhode Island - Civil Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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