PLANE CRASH KILLS 3 IN RHODE ISLAND

Two Hartford residents were killed Sunday afternoon when a six-seat plane bound for Block Island crashed seconds after takeoff from Westerly State Airport.

Investigators were still trying to determine why the Piper Cherokee banked to the left, then cartwheeled before crashing just past the end of the runway. The fuselage of the plane was scattered between the runway and the Post Road, which is less than a mile from the airport.

Neil Taty, 55, and Kathleen Murrett, 47, both of 373 Campfield Ave., died in the crash, Westerly police said. Taty was an architect. Murrett was an attorney for 17 years and had been working at Cummings and Lockwood in Hartford. The pilot also was killed, but police were not releasing his name late Sunday.

Two other passengers, both from South Windsor, were injured.

Brian Ficaro, 20, of 60 Benedict Drive, was taken by Life Star helicopter to Backus Hospital in Norwich and was listed in serious condition late Sunday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Holly Hajek, 19, of 224 Quarry Brook Drive, was listed in good condition at Westerly Hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board office in Parsippany, N.J., and the Federal Aviation Administration office in Burlington, Mass., are investigating the crash.

Weather was not believed to be a factor, police said. The plane, which took off shortly after 11:30 a.m., was not overloaded. Investigators have already called the manufacturer of the engine and the Piper company for information about the plane, police said.

Rhode Island Airport Police Chief Ed Carter said he had inspected the plane’s instruments and controls at the scene, but was unable to determine a cause of the crash.

The plane was operated by New England Airlines, which specializes in commuter flights to Block Island. Planes leave Westerly airport nearly every hour for the 20-minute flight to Block Island.

The crash shut down Westerly Airport for about five hours. At one point during the shutdown, a twin-engine plane owned by the airline was allowed to take off. An official at the airport said the plane was going to Block Island, to pick up several passengers who otherwise were stranded, because they were going to Groton, Conn.

This is the second fatal accident in 10 years for the small commuter fleet that provides daily flights between Block Island and Westerly.