Single-engine aerobatic plane crashes after flight from Cape Canaveral to Rhode Island

A plane departing from Chatham Municipal Airport on August 10 crashed after landing at an airport in Rhode Island. The pilot from Virginia was trapped and injured. No one else was on the plane.

The injured pilot had only purchased the plane in Chatham on August 10 and left Chatham Airport with the plane after the sale, according to Huntley Harrison, chairman of the Chatham Airport Commission. The plane was widely known as a “high-performance” aerobatic aircraft, Harrison said.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), an investigation is underway into what happened when the blue single-engine Yakovlev Yak-55M crashed after landing at Quonset State Airport in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, at approximately 4:30 p.m. that same day. According to the FAA, the plane rolled over after landing.

“The accident was not fatal and we are grateful for that,” said North Kingstown Police Captain John MacCoy.

According to FAA records, the plane's last owner lives in Brewster.

FAA: Only the pilot was on board

According to MacCoy, police arrived at the plane crash at about 4:45 p.m. According to a North Kingstown police report, pilot John Kevin Pace, 38, of Bassett, Virginia, was flying the plane. According to an FAA accident and incident report, the plane had an erratic engine.

According to preliminary information from the National Transportation Safety Board on August 12, an engine failure occurred during the climb and the aircraft returned to Quonset State Airport.

Pace, who is listed as the pilot by the FAA, was the only person on board at the time of the crash, the FAA said.

Police: Pilot was trapped in plane after crash

When police arrived at the crash site, they found a single-pilot monoplane lying on its roof and facing southwest, according to an Aug. 12 report by Patrolman Liam Doyle of North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

“The pilot of the aircraft was trapped,” Doyle said in the report.

An aircraft rescue and firefighting unit and witnesses attempted to rescue the pilot from the plane, the report said. After additional help arrived, Pace was rescued from the plane.

Pace had multiple cuts on his body but was conscious and alert, Doyle said in the report. Pace's injuries caused blood loss and he was taken to Rhode Island Hospital in stable condition by North Kingstown Fire Department paramedics, the report said.

Witness Kelly Shea told police she saw the crash from another plane she saw taxiing on the ground, the police report said. Shea did not notice any suspicious activity related to the crash and remained at the scene to be interviewed by an aviation inspector, the report said.

Rachael Devaney writes about community and culture. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @RachaelDevaney.

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Single-engine aerobatic plane crashes after flight from Cape Canaveral to Rhode Island

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