Rhode Island Couple Victims in Dartmouth Plane Crash

DARTMOUTH (WBSM) — The two people killed in this morning’s plane crash on Interstate 195 in Dartmouth have been identified as a Middletown, Rhode Island couple.

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III identified the couple this afternoon as Thomas Perkins, 68, and his wife Agatha Perkins, 66.

The D.A.’s Office said 911 calls came into Massachusetts State Police at about 8:15 a.m. reporting a small aircraft had crashed on I-195 westbound prior to the Reed Road exit.

READ MORE: Two People Killed in Dartmouth Plane Crash, Another Injured

The single-engine, fixed wing Socata TBM 700 had crashed in the woods along I-195, and parts of the aircraft were found along the wood line while the fuselage was located in the median of the highway.

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The aircraft had just departed from New Bedford Regional Airport en route to Kenosha, Wisconsin. It reached about 775 feet altitude about a minute after takeoff and then started dropping shortly after.

Both of the Perkinses were located with apparent injuries in the fuselage and were pronounced deceased at the scene.

A silver Hyundai Sonata was struck by a portion of the crashed aircraft and its driver, an adult woman, was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford with injuries that were not life-threatening. Her identity was not released.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.