An 81-year-old Massachusetts man died Thursday after the small plane he was piloting crashed into a pond inside Myles Standish State Park, according to Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the plane involved was a Piper PA-18, and Carrara was the only person aboard.
Preliminary information from the district attorney's office indicates Carrara had taken off from Plymouth Municipal Airport at 6:32 a.m., bound for Martha's Vineyard, and was attempting to return to Plymouth when the crash occurred.
Witnesses described watching the plane struggle in the air moments before it went down.
Nearby resident James Campbell told WHDH-TV he was drinking his morning coffee when he noticed the plane overhead. "I saw an older plane coming over, and it was kind of sputtering above," Campbell said. "I'm not a pilot, but I said, 'that doesn't sound so good.' Then it kind of kicked into gear again, then went over to the horizon over there. I saw the plane come back around and I didn't hear an engine at all, and it just kind of nosedived into Curlew Pond," he said.
Several local residents rushed to help, with some paddling out on kayaks to reach the submerged plane.
John Gurney, who aided in the rescue, told the station that the plane had flipped upside down in the water. "We just pushed it until we could get it on the ground, then we dragged it as close to shore as we could," Gurney said. "Because the plane was upside down, and we had no idea if the guy had any air in there. If he was alive, was he conscious? We couldn't make any contact. We banged on the hull, we yelled, heard nothing back," he said.
Gurney added that the group soon realized the pilot's chances were slim, saying, "Guy jumped out and reached down, and realized the windshield was gone. The cabin was full of water. He'd been there for about 20 minutes at that point. It's kind of frustrating when you know someone is in there and there's nothing you can do.”
Plymouth Fire Department and Plymouth EMS pulled Carrara from the wreckage and transported him to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:56 a.m., according to the DA’s office.
The FAA said it and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, with the NTSB leading the probe and providing further updates. Cruz's office said the cause and circumstances of the crash remain under investigation.