Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

SMITHFIELD -- A man's body was found this evening after a single-engine Piper PA-32 aircraft crashed late this afternoon about a half-mile southeast of runway 33 at North Central State Airport, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.

FAA spokesman Jim Peters said that investigators have not determined if the man was the pilot or a passenger aboard the plane.

The plane had landed in a wooded area off Clark Road. It had been on its way from T.F. Green Airport in Warwick to North Central, Peters said earlier tonight.

Nearby residents said they heard a loud explosion and saw flames, sometime after 4:30 p.m.

The plane's registration, or tail, number is 2316p, and the plane is registered to Robert A. Zoglio Jr. of 207 New London Turnpike, Wyoming, R.I., according Peters.

However, Peters said it was not known if Zoglio was aboard the plane.

Rescue vehicles responded to the crash site, which is about a mile or less from 46 Clark Road, where a dirt road leads into the woods, according to a police officer on the scene just before 6 p.m. Traffic and pedestrians were being stopped there.

Peters said shortly after 6 p.m. that it was not yet known how many people were on board. When it was first called in, whoever located the plane had not yet located the pilot or any passengers, he said.

Peters said the accident was reported to have happened at 5:06 p.m.

Airport officials contacted by phone said they either had no information or no comment.

Carol Dionisopoulos, who lives at 66 Clark Road, said she first heard a plane after 4:30 p.m., then a loud explosion, followed by flames, about 250 feet from her house.

She said she went out with flashlights, while there was still burning, but no one could be seen.

Ernest Robert, of 43 Clark Road, said he, his wife and son were in their living room when heard a big explosion. He said his wife and son, who were facing a window, saw a huge fireball, about 25 feet high.

They didn't know it was a plane crash at first, and thought it might be an explosion in a nearby barn. Robert went out with a fire extinguisher, but couldn't get close, he said.

He then saw a fuselage and wing.

Both residents say they reported the crash to 911.

No signs of a fire were visible when a reporter arrived at the scene before 6 p.m. After getting closer to the crash site later in the evening, people with spotlights could be seen search the plane. Its tail and fuselage were visible.

-- WIth reports from Journal staff writer Richard Dujardin

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