4 Die as Seaplane Slams Into Car, Rhode Island Restaurant

A seaplane crashed into a crowded restaurant and exploded Saturday while trying to land near an island beach, killing at least four people and forcing customers to dive for safety.

The single-engine plane was heading toward the waters off Block Island’s Fred Benson State Beach when it crashed into a car in front of G.R. Sharkeys and skidded into the restaurant.

The plane exploded, destroying the single-story, wood-frame building, which also houses a gas station. The plane narrowly missed the two gas pumps.

“It was like the whole world exploded,” said Corrie Heinz, a bartender at a tavern across the street from Sharkeys.

Christopher McGinniss, a gas station attendant, said he shouted at people eating on an outside deck to get out of the way. They fled and the plastic chairs and tables melted, he said.

New Shoreham Police Chief William McCombe said the victims include the pilot and two of his three passengers. The fourth victim was in the car.

The remaining person in the plane was taken to a hospital in Providence. He was listed in critical condition with burns and other injuries.

Peter Wood, editor of the Block Island Times, said the scene “looked like a war zone.”

The plane apparently was trying to land about 300 yards off shore, beyond a breakwater, witnesses told Wood. It touched down once, bounced and the pilot apparently tried to abort the landing. The plane skipped off the water, went over some power lines on shore and slammed into the car.