NEED TO KNOW
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Rhode Island couple Thomas and Agatha Perkins died in a plane crash on Oct. 13
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Their plane crashed on Interstate 195 near Exit 22 in Dartmouth, Mass.
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It remains unclear what caused the crash, which remains under investigation
A Rhode Island couple was killed in a plane crash on a Massachusetts highway on Monday, Oct. 13.
Thomas Perkins, 68, and Agatha Perkins, 66, died after their small aircraft crashed on Interstate 195 near Exit 22 in Dartmouth, Mass. Around 8 a.m., their Socata TBM 700 plane crashed shortly after their takeoff from New Bedford Regional Airport.
Thomas, who was a licensed pilot, was piloting the plane. Agatha was the only other occupant on board. They were headed for Kenosha, Wisc., with an expected arrival time at 10:09 a.m., per Channel 2 News.
It remains unclear what caused the crash. An airport employee told Boston 25 that he didn’t hear or notice anything strange with the plane taxiing to the runway. At the time of the crash, a Nor’easter was imminent, and Massachusetts had rain, gusty winds and poor visibility.
The couple were reportedly philanthropists in their Rhode Island community of Aquidneck Island. They are survived by their two children, Emily and Owen.
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Agatha and Thomas Perkins
There were no other passengers on the plane.
A driver was injured during the accident. The woman, who has not been publicly identified, was injured after a portion of the plane hit her Hyundai Sonata. She was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and later released.
The woman’s mother-in-law, Kathy Ramos, told WCVB 5 that the woman was driving home to Fall River, Mass., after she dropped her husband off at work. When the plane crashed, another driver saw the victim screaming. That driver pulled over and drove her to a local hospital.
PEOPLE has reached out to local officials for more information on the crash.
The left-most eastbound lane of I-195 was closed, while the remaining lanes have reopened.
“It was a wonder that all of a sudden I hit all this traffic. I had to take Route 6 to get over here, thinking what crazy accident happened on 195. I was listening on the radio and come to find out there was an airplane crash on the highway,” driver Ron Valiquette told WCVB 5.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, per the Associated Press.
Read the original article on People
