Westerly Airport History | New England Aviation History

Westerly, R. I. – December 4, 1991

February 22, 2021

Westerly, R. I. – December 4, 1991

Shortly before 11:30 a.m. on December 4, 1991, a Cessna 182 with two men aboard took off from Westerly Airport bound for Block Island. Just after take off, while at an altitude of about 500 feet, the engine suddenly lost all power, and the aircraft went down in a cow pasture off Airport Road across the street from the airport entrance. While making the emergency landing, the aircraft struck a rock causing it to flip onto its back, but it didn’t catch fire. Both men extricated themselves without injury. The aircraft was a total loss.

Source: Providence Journal, “Plane Loses Power And Crashes In Pasture; Two Aboard”, December 5, 1991, page C-1

Westerly, R. I. – September 20, 1943

March 10, 2018

Westerly, Rhode Island – September, 20, 1943

U.S. Navy SBD Dauntless
U.S. Navy Photo.

On September 20, 1943, Ensign Charles Frederick Leiserson, age 21, was piloting an SBD-4 Dauntless, (Bu. No. 10470), on a gunnery training mission when the aircraft crashed and burned in Westerly, R.I. Also aboard was Ensign Raymond R. Strimel, age 28. Both men were killed.

Ensign Leiserson moved to Washington, D. C. in 1933, and upon graduation from Woodrow Wilson High School, attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduating in 1942. He worked at Grumman Aircraft in Bethpage, Long Island, and enlisted in the Navy in September, 1942, and earned his pilot’s wings at Corpus Christi, Texas. He continued his training at Fort Lauderdale, Florida before being sent to Rhode Island. He’s buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49246487/charles-frederick-leiserson

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76632979/charles-frederick-leiserson

Ensign Strimel was born in Marietta, Ohio, and attended Ohio State University and the University of of Oklahoma. He’s buried in East Lawn Memorial Park in Reno, Ohio.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112344385/raymond-r-strimel

Sources:

U. S. Navy Accident Report #44-8706, dated September 20, 1943

The Evening Star, (Washington, D.C.), “Ensign Charles F. Leiserson Killed In Rhode Island Crash”, September 21, 1943, pg. A-8