911 calls capture moment plane crashes onto I-195 in Dartmouth

DARTMOUTH, Mass. — 911 calls obtained by Boston 25 News Wednesday capture the moment a plane crashed along a major highway in Massachusetts earlier this month as witnesses rushed to alert first responders to the emergency.

A fixed-wing airplane carrying a Rhode Island couple crashed in the grassy median on I-195 in Dartmouth on October 13.

“I’m on 195 right now, right now. I just saw behind me an explosion, I believe. It looks like fire and a lot of smoke,” one female caller tells 911 dispatch.

An off-duty paramedic who happened to be on the scene also recounted the scene to 911 dispatch.

"Yeah, the things exploded all across the highway. I’m a paramedic, I’m getting out. I was coming home from work. Yeah, the thing’s in pieces."

The dispatcher then asked the off-duty paramedic if he can access the cockpit.

"No way. No. I don’t think anybody survived," the paramedic responded.

Thomas Perkins, 68, and his wife, 66-year-old Agatha Perkins, both of Middletown, Rhode Island, were found in the fuselage of the aircraft, which came to rest in the grassy median, the DA’s office said. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

The third victim, a woman who was driving on the highway in a silver Hyundai Sonata, was rushed to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Both sides of I-195 were closed at Exit 19 for several hours after the crash.

State police said the plane caught fire after impact with the ground.

An initial investigation indicated that the pilot may have been attempting to land at a nearby airport.

The crash came on a day when Massachusetts was battered by wind gusts up to 55 mph and rainfall totals up to four inches.

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