Small airplane crashes on I-195 in Dartmouth, killing two on board

A small airplane crashed on I-195 in Dartmouth Monday morning, killing the two people on board, according to Massachusetts State Police.

In a statement, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn identified the victims as Thomas Perkins, 68, and his wife, Agatha Perkins, 66, of Middletown, Rhode Island. The couple was pronounced dead at the scene.

Quinn said state police received reports Monday at about 8:15 a.m. that an airplane crashed at the edge of the woods along the interstate. The plane broke into pieces, with the fuselage ending up on the highway median, said Quinn. He identified the plane as a Socata TBM 700 and said it had taken off from New Bedford Regional Airport.

Plane tracking website FlightAware shows a flight matching that description took off from New Bedford at 8:10 a.m. and was headed for Kenosha, Wisconsin. The site lists the plane as owned by Easton Air LLC of Middletown, Rhode Island.

The district attorney said a car driving on the highway was hit by part of the plane, and the adult female driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The driver was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford by car, according to state police.

Authorities did not indicate what may have caused the crash. The incident came as a strong storm brought high winds and rain to Massachusetts on Monday.

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a social media post the agency is investigating the Dartmouth crash. When contacted for comment, the NTSB said it is not able to respond to all media inquiries due to a lapse in funding during the federal government shutdown. The Federal Aviation Administration said the same.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced on social media at 9 a.m. that I-195 was closed in both directions at exit 22 due to the crash. Two eastbound lanes and the westbound side of the highway reopened around 3:00 p.m., the agency wrote in a later post.

This is a developing story and will be updated. With reporting from the WBUR Newsroom.