Aircraft accidents

Cause Determined In 2008 Plane Crash

The long investigation into the cause of the September 2008 plane crash which took the life of Cape Air pilot and Vineyard Haven resident David D. Willey is over, its findings summarized in two words: “spatial disorientation.”

Cape Air Flight Makes Emergency Landing

A Cape Air flight bound from Boston to the Vineyard on Saturday evening was forced to make an emergency landing at the Barnstable Municipal Airport when the landing gear malfunctioned.

None of the seven people on board the twin-engine Cessna 402 were injured.

The pilot, John Call, 32, of Marshfield, was on approach to the Vineyard airport around 7:15 p.m. when a warning light indicated the landing gear in the nose was malfunctioning, Martha’s Vineyard Airport manager Sean Flynn said.

Bog Jam: Island-Bound Pilot Saves the Day

A single-engine Cessna headed towards the Vineyard from New Hampshire crash-landed in a cranberry bog near Buzzards Bay on Sunday after the plane experienced engine problems and the pilot attempted an emergency landing. Although the plane was seriously damaged, all four people on board escaped without serious injuries.

Cause of Plane Crash Unknown

A detailed preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board draws no conclusions on what caused the Cape Air crash which killed pilot Capt. David Willey, a resident of Vineyard Haven, on Sept. 26.

But the full report, according to Luke Schiada, chief investigator of the crash for the NTSB which has involved local, state and federal authorities, may take six to eight months to complete.

“It is important to note we are still in the information gathering stage. There is a lot of data we are still waiting to get,” he said.

Captain Willey

Island, Cape Air Mourn Death of Pilot in Crash

David D. Willey, the Cape Air pilot who died in a plane crash in the woods of West Tisbury Friday night, was remembered by family, friends and colleagues yesterday as an expert pilot, an avid learner and a family man with a wry sense of humor. He was 61.

“He was a great pilot, an exemplary human being,” Cape Air founder, chief executive officer and fellow pilot Daniel Wolf said yesterday. “This was a special person and it’s a huge loss for the company. It’s a devastating thing for the family.”

Breaking News: 6/21/08, 5:30pm - Helicopter Goes Down off Tashmoo; No One Injured

Four people escaped serious injury when a helicopter crashed into the sea off Lake Tashmoo about 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Police said engine failure was the cause of the crash.

Several private fishing and pleasure boats were on the scene, about 1,000 yards off Tashmoo, within minutes and threw life jackets to the passengers clinging to the upturned chopper.

The occupants were then able to swim the short distance to the boats. It is believed three boats ferried them to shore. All were checked at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and quickly released.

Island Pilot Killed in Airplane Crash

Vineyard residents this week mourned the loss of James Rogers of Oak Bluffs, who died when his self-built aircraft crashed shortly after noon Sunday in the Manuel F. Corellus State Forest in West Tisbury.

Mr. Rogers, 55, had just taken off from Runway 6 at the Martha's Vineyard Airport when his Lancair 360 single-engine airplane banked toward Runway 15 and then came down in the nearby state forest.

Acting Vineyard airport manager Sean Flynn said Mr. Rogers did not survive the impact.

Pilot Listed in Critical Condition; FAA Opens Crash Investigation

The deaf pilot whose single engine airplane crashed last Thursday on a runway at Katama Airfield in Edgartown remained in critical condition yesterday in the intensive care unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Pilot Listed in Critical Condition; FAA Opens Crash Investigation

The deaf pilot whose single engine airplane crashed last Thursday on a runway at Katama Airfield in Edgartown remained in critical condition yesterday in the intensive care unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Falling Short of Runway, Plane Plunges into Brush; Pilot and Passenger Hurt

The pilot and passenger of a single engine plane apparently escaped serious injury last evening after crashing their four-seater Mooney aircraft into the scrub oak and low brush just a couple hundred yards shy of the approach to runway 15 at the Martha's Vineyard Airport.

Police and ambulance crews from at least four Island towns responded, shortly after 6 p.m., to the scene at the border of the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest and the airport, finding a dismembered plane and two men, both conscious.

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