Rhode Island couple killed in Dartmouth plane crash Monday morning, another injured

Two people died in a small plane crash along Interstate 195 in Dartmouth, according to Massachusetts state police. One person on the ground also suffered injuries.

Officials have identified the two fatalities as Thomas Perkins, 68, and his wife Agatha Perkins, 66, both of Middletown, Rhode Island.

Interstate 195 westbound in Dartmouth was closed for hours at Exit 19 as a result, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced Monday morning.

Officials say the plane, a fixed wing single engine aircraft skidded across several lanes of traffic before going up in flames.

7NEWS Sources said the plane was headed to Wisconsin to be refueled and then head to another location.

The FAA and NTSB are working with Massachusetts state police to investigate the incident.

7NEWS spoke with an aviation expert regarding the crash, who identified just what the agencies investigating will likely be looking for.

“The NTSB is very good at this,” Captain J.F. Joseph said. “The good thing is it looks like the [remnants] are confined to one area, so that when they do the analysis of the aircraft systems components, probably all the equipment will be there so that they can get a good look at it and determine whether or not there were any anomalies within the aircraft itself. The other thing that they’ll look at very closely will be the physiological perspective of the pilot they’ll certainly look at his past performance, medical pathology, to ensure there was no physiological episodes that contributed to the mishap.”

This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.