Pilot Loses Life in Plane Crash at an Airshow In Upstate New York

Replica WWI Plane Crashed at an Airshow

A replica WWI airplane crashed during an airshow in Upstate New York over the weekend, and sadly, the 60-year-old pilot of the plane lost his life during the tragic incident that happened about an hour south of Albany.

According to the Red Hook Police Department, the unfortunate incident happened Saturday afternoon at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Red Hook.

According to police, at approximately 2:58 p.m., Dutchess 911 dispatched the Red Hook Police Department after a plane crashed at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome on Norton Road in Red Hook, about an hour south of Albany.

Pilot Loses Life in Plane Crash

The pilot and sole occupant, Brian T. Coughlin, age 60, of Cazenovia, NY, was sadly pronounced deceased at the scene.

According to Red Hook Police, the crash was caused by unknown mechanical failure, but they did say that the engine of the Fokker D.VIII caught fire, causing the plane to crash.  This investigation remains ongoing.

The "Redesigned" Fokker D.VIII

The Fokker E.V. was a German parasol-monoplane fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz and built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. According to sources, it was the last Fokker design to become operational with the Luftstreitkräfte, entering service in the previous months of World War I.

After several fatal accidents due to wing failures, the aircraft was modified and redesignated Fokker D.VIII. Dubbed the Flying Razor by post-war pulp fiction writers, the D.VIII had the distinction of scoring the last aerial victory of the war.