Pilot dies when 1936 biplane crashes in North Texas

NEW FAIRVIEW, Texas – The 86-year-old pilot of a small biplane died when the aircraft went down in a field not far from a private airstrip north of Fort Worth.

Authorities identified the pilot as Dominick Pellegreno, the owner of the plane. He died at the scene Thursday.

No one else was aboard the biplane, which is an early aircraft with two pairs of wings stacked one on top of the other. Authorities say the craft was a 1936 Rose Parrakeet A-1.

It’s not clear what caused the crash, which occurred a few miles northeast of Rhome.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Pellegreno was the husband of Ann Pellegreno, a famed aviator who in 1967 led a crew on a global flight that closely mirrored the path taken by Amelia Earhart in 1937.