Westerly, Rhode Island – August 17, 1966
On August 17, 1966, a Cessna 206 took off from Black Island bound for Westerly Airport. Aboard the aircraft was the 28-year-old pilot and a 30-year-old woman passenger from New York. As the plane approached the shore of Westerly, the engine lost power, and the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in the water about 1,600 yards off shore from Weekapaug Beach. Both escaped the aircraft before it sank, and were rescued a few minutes later by the crew of a two-masted sailboat named Camelot. A short time later they were transferred to a Coast Guard boat and ultimately transported to South County Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
Source: New London Day, “Plane Ditches In Ocean; Pilot, Passenger Saved”, August 18, 1966, page 6
