Pilot, 81, Dies After Piper PA-18 Crashes Into Plymouth Pond

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — An 81-year-old pilot died Thursday morning after his single-engine experimental aircraft crashed into a pond within Myles Standish State Forest, the Plymouth County District Attorney's office confirmed.

The aircraft, a Piper PA-18 registered N84AJ and described as an AC-18-Cub variant, departed Plymouth Municipal Airport between 6:30 a.m. and 7:01 a.m. bound for Martha's Vineyard. The pilot, identified as Richard Carrara of Kingston, Mass., was attempting to return to Plymouth when the aircraft struck Curlew Pond and overturned near the shoreline. First responders and bystanders extricated Carrara from the overturned cockpit, where he had become trapped, and transported him to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Plymouth, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 8:56 a.m. The Plymouth County Dive Team and Kingston Fire Department dive team assisted in the recovery effort.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have opened investigations into the cause of the crash. No preliminary cause has been established. Massachusetts State Police and the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office are providing support to the investigation.