NTSB investigates cause of fiery plane crash on Massachusetts highway that killed couple
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has begun an investigation into the fiery plane crash on a Dartmouth, Massachusetts highway that killed a husband and wife.
Tom Perkins, 68, and his 66-year-old wife, Agatha, of Middletown, Rhode Island, died when their single engine plane crashed onto Route 195 Monday morning and burst into flames.
Both sides of the highway were shut down for several hours after the crash. One lane remained closed Tuesday because the wreckage was still in the grassy median. The highway was reopened when the plane's fuselage was removed from the area on Tuesday afternoon.
Pilot remembered for "courage, kindness"
Tom Perkins had been a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight Northeast, flying patients long distances in his own plane so they could receive medical care, since 2021.
"Tom was more than a pilot; he was a friend, a mentor, and a shining example of what it means to serve others with courage, kindness, and heart," the non-profit's president, Fr. Larry Camerlin, said in a statement Tuesday. "We mourn their loss deeply and celebrate the lives they lived - lives filled with generosity, adventure, and faith."
The flight Monday was not an Angel Flight. There's no word yet on what caused the crash. The plane had just left New Bedford Regional Airport during a nor'easter and was heading to Kenosha, Wisconsin, according to Flightradar24. It's not clear yet if weather was a factor in the crash.
"We have no idea what was wrong with that aircraft. Could it have been an engine issue, flight control problem?" said aviation expert Matthew Buckley, a former Navy pilot.
"If everything's working great, in really bad weather conditions even though you have two pilots staring at the instruments, they could get vertigo. If you were in the clouds and you were getting bumped around with gusts up, down, left, right, and sideways, even if the instruments are telling you you're straight and level you might feel like you're upside down."
A driver on the highway was hurt when her car was "was impacted by a portion of the crashed aircraft," according to Bristol County District Attorney Tom Quinn. Her injuries were described as "non-life-threatening."