Pilot Killed After Small Plane Crashes Into New Bedford Cemetery
NEW BEDFORD (CBS) - The pilot of a small plane has died after crashing into a New Bedford cemetery Monday afternoon. The FAA says the pilot was the only person aboard the Cessna 150 when it crashed at Rural Cemetery about 3 p.m.
A man who lives nearby told WBZ he heard the aircraft and saw it nosedive into the cemetery.
"I looked through the window to my backyard and I saw the plane going over my house," said Jose Garcia. "And then all of a sudden the sound it just went away and then it came back, it came back so strong that the plane was coming down and dived right to the cemetery right in front of my eyes."
The plane had just departed from New Bedford Regional Airport, about five miles away from where it crashed.
Witness Darlene Machado said the plane was circling before it crashed.
"I saw the plane going around, and he was circling, and then all of sudden he was kind of low and then he started going on an angle. I thought he was going to circle back around again and then he started going upside down and then he just nosedived," said Darlene Machado. "I just heard a thud so I knew he had crashed."
The pilot's identity has not been released.
The FAA and NTSB are investigating what caused the crash.
