Two dead in I-195 plane crash

Two are confrimed dead after a small plane crashed in the median and caught on fire on I-195 near exit 19 and Reed Road Monday morning.

Thomas Perkins, 68, and his wife Agatha Perkins, 66, of Middletown, Rhode Island were found in the plane's central body and were pronounced dead on scene.

When first responders arrived, they found a fixed wing single engine Socata TBM 700 that crashed in the woodline. Parts of the plane, which was manufactured in 2003, were found in the woodline and its main body was found in the median, according to the Bristol County District Attorney's office.

The female driver of a Hyundai Sonata was also injured in the crash after a part of the plane damaged the car's passenger side. The woman was taken to St. Luke's Hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

Video footage from the scene showed smoke and flames coming from the plane. After the fire was put out, the plane looked unrecognizable, torn apart, burned and resembling scrap metal.

Nichole Tripp, who lives near the scene of the crash, said "You can still smell the fire. It's in the air."

According to the Massachusetts State Police Department, the fixed-wing airplane crashed around 8:15 a.m.

Flight path data from KEWB show that the plane had a scheduled 8:10 a.m. departure from New Bedford Regional Airport and was headed for Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The plane was about three minutes into its flight when it crashed on I-195 at 8:13 a.m.

At least 25 emergency response vehicles were on scene, including ambulances, fire trucks, and both State Police and Dartmouth Police vehicles.

One resident who lives on Lakeside Avenue off of Reed Road heard an explosion around 8:15 a.m., followed by fire engine and ambulance sirens.

"We just heard something [and] we didn't know what it was," she said.

The plane is reportedly registered to Easton Air LCC in Middletown, Rhode Island. According to the Rhode Island Corporate Database, Turner Scott, an attorney and a former solicitor in Newport, owns the plane.

According to Flight Aware information, the plane is also registered to the Air Charity Network, an organization based out of Middletown, Rhode Island that provides free air transportation to specialized health care facilities or other distant destinations.

A representative from Angel Flight Northeast, a branch of the Air Charity Network that operates in Massachusetts, confirmed that there weren't any missions scheduled in the New Bedford area today.

It is currently unclear why the Perkins were flying to Wisconsin.

Thomas worked with his brother-in-law Jerry Kirby and restored historic homes around Rhode Island, forming the Kirby Perkins Construction company in 1987. Agatha was a certified personal trainer, pilates and yoga instructor. The Perkins, who were longtime residents of Middletown, were active community members, volunteering and donating to the Aquidneck Island Land Trust.

The investigation into what caused the crash is being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board.