Narragansett Bay – July 30, 1988
In the early morning hours of July 30, 1988, a Cessna 172 with a man and two women aboard left Wilmington, Delaware, bound for Block Island for a weekend visit with friends. When the aircraft reached Block Island the pilot was unable to land due to darkness and heavy fog. He was then directed by FAA controllers to go to Groton Airport in Connecticut, but when he arrived there he was unable to land due to darkness and heavy fog. He also tried without success to land at Westerly Airport. He was then directed to go to Green State Airport in Warwick, R.I., and ran out of fuel in-route.
When the plane ran out of gas around 5 a.m., the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing the waters of Narragansett Bay, in an area between Wickford and Jamestown. All three aboard donned life jackets and were able to get out of the airplane before it sank.
The three floated in the water until a fisherman happened upon them and took them to Wickford Harbor where they were met by the North Kingstown Fire Department and transported to a medical facility where they were examined and released.
Source: Providence Journal, “3 Rescued In Bay Plane Crash”, July 31, 1988, page C-1
