An 81-year-old Kingson man was killed Thursday morning after his small plane crashed into a pond in Myles Standish State Forest, officials said.
Plymouth police and firefighters arrived at Curlew Pond at around 7:45 a.m. and found the man – who was later identified as Richard Carrara, 81, of Kingston – trapped in the plane, which had flipped over in the water.
Aided by “good Samaritans,” Plymouth police Captain Marc Higgins said, officers and firefighters were able to pull the pilot from the wreckage.
Authorities said Carrara left Plymouth Airport at 7:01 for the Katama Airpark in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard and he was returning to Plymouth when the plane crashed.
Rescuers immediately began life saving measures, according to Higgins, and brought the victim to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth, where he later died.
“The Plymouth Police Department and Plymouth Fire Department extend their condolences to the pilot’s family and loved ones,” they said in a written statement.
Though the plane is a two-seater, officials said the pilot was the only person on board.
It remains unclear what caused the crash, which is under investigation.
The plane, a single engine two-seater, was registered to an entity at the airport in South Portland, Maine, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.
It is considered “experimental,” which the FAA describes as having been built with a kit. Experimental aircraft are not assembled in a licensed factory.
FAA records suggest the plane’s airworthiness certificate expired last year. Without a valid airworthiness certificate, a plane lacks permission to fly.
It was described as a Dakota Cub Super 18, which the Dakota Cub Aircraft company calls a “modern, high-performance kit aircraft designed for off-airport backcountry flying.”
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.