Windsor Locks, Connecticut – August 15, 1954
Republic F-84C – U.S. Air Force Photo
On August 15, 1954, a Rhode Island National Guard F-84 Thunderjet, (Ser. No. 48-713), took off from Bradley Field in Windsor Locks. Just after take-off the aircraft apparently lost power and crashed in an open field about two miles from the runway. The lone pilot aboard perished in the crash.
The pilot was identified as Captain Karl W. Augenstein, 30, of Warwick, Rhode Island. He was assigned to the 152nd Fighter Bomber Squadron of the R. I. Air National Guard.
Capt. Karl Augenstein
Capt. Augenstein was a native of Pforzhein, Germany and came to America with his parents and settled in Cranston, R. I. During WWII he enlisted in the U. S. Army Air Corps, and served as a B-24 bomber pilot with the Eighth Air Force in England.
He was survived by his parents, wife, and four children.
Sources:
Evening Bulletin, “Warwick Flier Is Killed In Jet Crash In Conn.”, August 16, 1954, Pg. 9.
