Plane crash victims were flying on personal family flight

Thomas Perkins, 68, and Agatha Perkins, 66, who died on Monday, Oct. 13 when their plane crashed on I-195, were flying from the New Bedford Regional Airport to Kenosha, Wisconsin on a personal family flight, wrote Larry Camerlin, president of Angel Flight North East, in a statement.

The Perkins had been flying in a plane registered to the Air Charity Network, an organization that provides free air transportation to specialized health care facilities, which Angel Flight North East is a part of.

Thomas had been a pilot for Angel Flight North East, which operates in the Eastern United States, since 2021. Over the past four years, he flew numerous missions that brought patients and families to medical care across the Eastern United States, Camerlin said.

“Tom was more than a pilot; he was a friend, a mentor, and a shining example of what it means to serve others with courage, kindness, and heart,” he wrote.

The plane, which is registered as “N111RF,” made frequent flights to and from the New Bedford Regional Airport, with the most recent flight occurring on Friday, Oct. 10 when it flew to Laurence G Hanscom Field Airport in Bedford, Massachusetts. According to FlightAware, the plane had been operating under Air Charity Network on Friday, Oct. 10, but it’s unclear whether Thomas was the pilot. 

Representatives from the New Bedford Regional Airport have been unavailable for comment.

The Monday, Oct. 13 flight occurred during a nor’easter, with high wind speeds of 18 miles per hour and gusts up to 34 miles per hour and two miles of visibility, according to the National Weather Service.

Scot Servis, the New Bedford Regional Airport Manager, said the plane left the airport at 8:08 a.m. and crashed shortly after takeoff.

He explained that since the plane is a private aircraft, the decision to depart or land is made by the pilot.

"New Bedford Regional Airport's authority to prevent or cancel arrivals or departures is limited to instances in which the runways are deemed unsafe for takeoffs or landings," he said. "This typically occurs when the airport will temporarily close to remove snow and reopen once the runways are clear."

Servis noted that on Monday morning the runways were clear and the air traffic control tower was staffed at "normal levels."

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash, but has not yet made any conclusions. Federal investigators have been on the scene of the crash on Tuesday, Oct. 14, clearing debris and investigating the crash. The scene has been cleared as of 2 p.m.