Warwick Rhode Island Aircraft Accident | New England Aviation History

Hillsgrove Airport – December 22, 1940

May 1, 2015

Hillsgrove Airport – December 22, 1940

Warwick, Rhode Island

Updated March 12, 2026.

On December 22, 1940, two aircraft, each flown by student pilots, collided in mid-air 1,000 feet directly over Hillsgrove Airport. One, an Aeronca Cub, flown by an 19-year-old pilot, and the other a Taylorcraft, flown by a 26-year-old pilot. Both pilots were returning from cross-country solo flights.

The impact broke the tail off the Aeronca, sending it plummeting to the ground killing the teenaged pilot instantly.

The other pilot was able to nurse his damaged plane down, clipping a tree and flipping over on Sand Pond Road in the Norwood section of Warwick, about three miles from the airport. He required a tourniquet to stem the flow of blood from a leg wound, but he survived.

The pilot of the Aeronca had approached the airport from the Occupasstuxet Road boundary and after passing over the hangar headed towards Post Road. He then began a 360 degree landing approach. He began descending as he went into his first leg of the turn and as he banked his right wing dipped creating a vision obstruction.

Meanwhile, the pilot of the Taylorcraft was approaching from the Strawberry Field Road border of the airport and was attempting a straight landing. As he was doing so, the left wing of his plane obstructed his vision of the other aircraft.

The propeller of the Taylorcraft tore away the Aeronca’s rudder and elevators causing the Aeronca to spin out of control and crashed.

Sources:

Woonsocket Call, “Young North Smithfield Flier Dies In Mid-Air Crash”, December 23, 1940, Pg. 1.

Evening Bulletin, “Flier’s Death Laid To Breach Of Regulation”, December 23, 1940, pg. 8.

Hillsgrove Airport – September 21, 1936

May 1, 2015

Hillsgrove Airport – September 21, 1936

Warwick, Rhode Island

Martin B-10 Bomber
U.S. Air Force Photo

In the beginning of September, 1936, members of the U.S. Army 99th Bombardment Squadron came to Hillsgrove Airport for two weeks of training. On the evening of September 21st, three B-10 Bombers took off a night training mission. Shortly afterwards, heavy fog settled over the area, and when the planes returned the pilots were given instructions via radio on how to land.

The first bomber to attempt a landing overshot the runway, and according to witnesses, its wheels almost touched down before the pilot gunned the engines for another attempt. Due to the heavy fog, the pilot evidently didn’t realize how close he was to the end of the runway, and the plane plowed into a patch of woods, broke apart, and caught fire. All three crewmen aboard died as a result of the crash.

The other two planes left the area and landed at Boston and Albany, New York.

The crew were identified as:

(Pilot) 2nd Lieut. Jack J. Neely, 25, of Hempstead, N.Y., died at St. Joseph’s Hospital. (Newspaper accounts state he was from Texas, but death records state Hempstead.) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49295550/jack-jerome-neely

Corporal Angelo Mazzaco, 26, of Long Branch, N.J., died at the scene. (Newspaper accounts state he was from Jersey City, N.J., but death records state Long Branch.)

Private Thaddeus Macaziewski, 28, of Schenectady, N.Y., died at St. Joseph’s Hospital. (Newspaper accounts identify him as Joseph, J., but Providence death records list him as Thaddeus.)

Sources:

Woonsocket Call, “Tragic Hillsgrove Accident Subject Of Two Inquiries”, September 22, 1936, Pg. 1

City of Providence, R. I. death records.

City of Warwick, R.I. death records.

The Attleboro Sun, “Three Die In Hilsgrove, R. I. Airplane Crash”, September 23, 1936