State Police Respond to Aircraft Crash in East Templeton

Today at approximately 4:00 p.m., Troopers assigned to the State Police Barracks in Athol responded to a report of the crash an aircraft located by the Gardner Police near the Gardner Airport on Airport Road in East Templeton.

Preliminary investigation by Trooper Corey Benoit indicates that a Piper Cherokee single engine fixed wing aircraft crashed in the area of Airport Road in East Templeton while on approach to land at the Gardner Airport. The pilot, 55 year-old Sylvia L. Vriesendorp of Manchester, MA, and passengers, 53 year-old Joan Bragar Mansour of Westminster, MA and 60 year-old Richard A. Magnuson of Westminster, MA all sustained serious injuries as a result of the crash. Vriesendorp, Mansour and Magnuson were transported by ambulance to Heywood Hospital in Gardner and then subsequently transported by medical helicopter to UMass Medical Center in Worcester.

This crash remains under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration. The Gardner Police Department and Gardner Fire & EMS assisted troopers at the scene.

No further information is available at this time. Please do not contact the barracks directly.

###

www.mass.gov/msp

Dial 911 on your Cell Phone for all Roadway Emergencies