Just a Scratch: Third Small Plane Crash in RI this Summer with No Serious Injuries

NARRAGANSETT, RI—The pilot of the small plane carrying an AT&T banner that was supposed to fly over beaches in Newport but ended up crashing into Narragansett Bay on Sunday has been identified as Jeremiah R. Coholan, 26, of North Dartmouth, MA.

Coholan was not hurt as he crashed the plane into the water after experiencing what he described as an engine failure. The state police, who continue to investigate the crash with other authorities, said that Coholan was flying alone from Westerly Airport to fly the coastline when his single engine L19 Bird Dog hit the water.

Brent Butterworth was at the beach in Narragansett when he saw the plane in the sky.

Suddenly, it turned at a 45-degree angle and within two minutes it crashed.

"The sight of the plane going down was unbelievable," Butterworth said. "The plane was approximately 1,200 feet up and took about 5- to 7-seconds to crash."

A good Samaritan boater pulled Coholan from the water and he was brought to the nearby State Pier 5 where he met with rescue personnel. He suffered just a minor scratch.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, along with the State Aeronautics Inspector, will be inspecting the plane once it's plucked from the waters.

The U.S. Coast Guard, members of the Narragansett Bay Marine Task Force and the state Department of Environmental Management responded to the incident, which happened on a warm, sunny July 4 holiday. The ideal beach weather meant the crash happened with a large audience. Butterworth said people on Bonnet Shores Beach were buzzing about it hours after the plane went down.

This crash is the third plane crash involving small aircraft in Rhode Island so far this summer. A 53-year-old Connecticut man crashed his small plane on Block Island on June 19 when he overshot a runway and plowed through a fence and into bushes, sparking a brush fire. Six people were not seriously hurt in that crash.

The day before, a 62-year-old New York man crashed his plane into the water off Weekapaug Beach in Westerly. He told authorities that he landed on the water to avoid beachgoers, some who thought it was a model plane at first.

One of the beachgoers was Larry Schwartz, who said the plane crashed right in front of where he was.

"Not something you see everyday," he said.

The pilot in that crash, identified as Alexander Piekarski, was rescued by two lifeguards who paddled out to his plane as it sank, nose down.