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One dead in upstate NY plane crash

RHINEBECK — A pilot in a Hudson Valley air show died Sunday after crashing during a simulated dogfight.

Police, rescue workers and firefighters responded to the crash site near the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, an aviation museum and air field, at around 4 p.m. Sunday. The pilot, who was not identified, was found dead, said Dutchess County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Mark Femenella.

The aerodrome, which is about 65 miles south of Albany, holds regularly scheduled weekend exhibitions that include World War I dogfights and barnstorming flights in vintage planes. Femenella said the plane that crashed was taking part in a show, but he couldn’t provide details.

Roger Christenfeld, a Poughkeepsie resident who was attending the air show with his family, said the accident happened during a simulated dogfight between a German plane and a French plane when one apparently lost control and crashed.

“It was surreal,” Christenfeld told the Poughkeepsie Journal. “One minute it was pretend danger, then it went suddenly to real danger.”

He said the French plane went into a spin and crashed behind some trees.

— The Associated Press

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