Mercy flight for cancer patient ends in flames on Easton plaza

Plane crashes in lot; all 3 aboard killed

Written and reported by David Abel, Tania deLuzuriaga, Emily Sweeney, Andrew Ryan, and Michael Levenson of the Globe staff, and Globe correspondent John M. Guilfoil.

EASTON - A volunteer pilot flying a Long Island cancer patient and his wife on a mercy mission to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston nose-dived through low cloud cover into the empty back row of a supermarket parking lot yesterday morning. All three aboard the plane died in the crash.

Authorities said the four-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza seemed to fluctuate dangerously in altitude before disappearing off radar, and witnesses reported that it stalled and spun out before crashing near the Hannaford's store in Highlands Plaza on Robert Drive in this town south of Boston.

Easton police identified the couple as Robert and Donna Gregory of Riverhead, N.Y. They were the parents of 4-year-old twins, a neighbor said. The pilot was identified as Joe E. Baker of Brookfield, Conn., a US Navy submarine veteran with a flawless flying record.

Robert Gregory, 43, suffered from chronic lymphocytic leukemia, according to a blog written by his wife that chronicled his struggle with the disease. Several years ago, he underwent a stem-cell transplant at Dana-Farber, according to the blog.

The plane was en route from Westhampton Beach, N.Y., to Logan International Airport when it crashed, said officials at the nonprofit group Angel Flight New England, which ferries needy passengers for medical treatment.

Witnesses described watching as the craft erupted into flames after crashing at 10:17 a.m.

"It was like a fireball," said Darcy Stillman, 35, manager of the Tanfastic Tanning Salon in the shopping plaza. "We could see there were people inside, but there was nothing you could do. It was horrible.

"We watched them burn. . . . We felt helpless," said Stillman, as tears dripped down her cheeks. "That poor family, that poor family, that poor family."

Easton Fire Chief Thomas Stone said a last-minute maneuver by the pilot may have avoided casualties in the plaza, where the burned wings stretched across three parking spaces.

"One hundred feet in either direction, and he could have hit some cars," Stone said.

Robert and Donna Gregory, who married in 1997, had gone to great lengths to provide for his care. In her blog, she describes a postdiagnosis life of doctor visits and complications that included a seizure that landed her husband in intensive care.

"I hope one day that things will be back to normal," she wrote on May 11, 2007. "I would love to be able to sit up and watch television with him after the kids have gone to bed. . . . I guess I can keep hoping and praying."

Robert Gregory was a marine technician who worked on boats, and his wife was a stay-at-home mother who cared for her children, a boy and a girl, and her husband, according to a report in Newsday. The family lived in a red wood-sided ranch-style home in a tree-lined subdivision.

Robert Kirschner, a neighbor of the Gregorys, told the Globe in a telephone interview that the couple were devoted parents who were often seen with their children on a backyard swing set. They had a dog and a cat.

"They did everything with their children," he said. "They were good neighbors, and it was just a tragic loss."

Kirschner said that he did not know much about Robert's illness, but that Donna always seemed to be by his side, as a caretaker.

"It seemed like they were very close," he said.

FAA officials said Baker had a perfect flying record. His commercial pilot license was last updated in October 2007, when he passed a medical exam but was required to fly with glasses, according to the FAA.

Angel Flight requires pilots to be certified by the FAA, to carry liability insurance, and have clean flying records.

The registered owner of the aircraft, Janet Keene of Brookfield, said Baker had used the plane on previous mercy missions. It was built in 1956 and originally belonged to the son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she said.

The plane had been consistently updated with a new engine and radio system and had undergone annual inspections, she said.

"It was really a brand new plane; if there were any problems, it wouldn't have been cleared to fly," Keene said.

Baker, a Keene family friend, had also flown her family on trips, she said. The aircraft was based at Igor Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Bridgeport, Conn.

Friends recalled Baker, 65, as an elder statesman of town politics who volunteered on the Brookfield Republican Town Committee, the town Board of Education, and the charter revision commission, and moderated several town meetings.

"He was the kind of guy you could go to when you had a question about process or procedure," said Martin Flynn, chairman of the town Republican Committee. "He was someone who worshipped the process and followed the rules. He had opinions, but he put the process above anything else."

Flynn said Baker was married with adult children.

Brookfield Selectman Jerry Murphy said he was not surprised that Baker flew for Angel Flight New England.

"He was a guy who was public-spirited and public-minded," Murphy said. "Regardless of which side of the issue people were on, they all respected Joe."

At the crash scene yesterday, Richard Bunker, an inspector for the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission, said investigators were trying to determine what caused the crash.

Laura Foscolo, station manager at Shelter Aviation, which services aircraft at the Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, said the flight left yesterday at 9:08 a.m., after about 15 minutes on the ground.

Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said air traffic controllers directed Baker to fly using the plane's instruments because of the cloud cover.

According to an audio recording of Baker's contact with controllers on his approach to Logan, the plane alternately gained and lost altitude. The controller says: "I think he's crashed . . . His altitude went up, down, up, down, and then he disappeared off the radar at really low altitude."

Easton Deputy Police Chief Allen Krajick said he saw the plane flying low under the clouds when it appeared to "stall or spin."

"We're very fortunate no one else was hurt," said Krajick, a licensed pilot.

Bridget Dumoulin, 40, was shopping in Hannaford's for pizza ingredients for her son's dinner when "there was a big explosion and the building shook."

"At first I thought he hit the building," Dumoulin said. "People rushed over and tried to help, but it was just too late. The flames were too intense."

Bank of Easton branch manager Patti Desgrosseilliers heard a loud boom and looked out to see fire some 500 feet from her window, she said. "We ran outside, we saw the flames and the smoke, and we could just see the tail of the plane," Desgrosseilliers said.

In a statement, Dr. Edward J. Benz Jr., president of Dana-Farber, said he was "deeply saddened."

"This is a horrible, unexpected loss," he said.

Angel Flight issued a statement saying the organization's "sympathies go out to the families."

Correspondents Ryan Kost, Anne Baker, and Gabrielle Dunn contributed to this report.