Community Mourns Doctor From Cheshire Killed In Wallingford Plane Crash

WALLINGFORD, CT — The Cheshire and Wallingford communities are mourning the loss of a well-known doctor who was killed in a plane crash Monday night in Wallingford. Dr. Joseph Tomanelli, 56, of Cheshire, was confirmed dead at the scene of the crash while his son Daniel Tomanelli, 21, was hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to multiple reports.

The crash occurred on Hanover Street in Wallingford around 6:30 p.m. as the small plane was approaching the Meriden-Markham Airport. (To sign up for Cheshire breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

NBC Connecticut reports the father and son were attempting to land a Cirrus SR22 plane. Authorities haven’t said who was piloting the plane at the time of the crash, according to NBC.

The initial investigation determined that the plane crashed through a chain-linked fence on the east side of the airport property and then traveled across Hanover Street before coming to a stop at a sand berm, according to the New Haven Register. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have taken over the investigation of the crash.

Joseph Tomanelli had practiced medicine for about 27 years and most recently worked for the Hartford HealthCare Medical Group. He joined the group in 2012 and worked out of a primary care practice on Masonic Avenue in Wallingford.

Tomanelli was a primary care doctor for more than 3,000 patients, according to Hartford HealthCare. He had an undergraduate degree from Cornell University, medical degree from New York University School of Medicine, received his postdoctoral training at Francis Scott Key Medical Center in Baltimore and served as medical director at local nursing homes, according to officials.

“MidState Medical Center, Hartford HealthCare Medical Group and all of us at Hartford HealthCare offer our heartfelt condolences to Dr. Joseph Tomanelli’s family, friends, colleagues and patients,” Shawn Mawhiney, Hartford HealthCare spokesman, said in a statement. “We are incredibly shocked and saddened to learn of this tragedy. Dr. Tomanelli was a well-known and esteemed primary care physician in our community for years and will be tremendously missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with all who knew him.”

The Meriden Record-Journal reports that Tomanelli graduated from a Meriden flight school in 2004 and had a lifelong desire to fly and was convinced by his son, Nick, to start taking lessons.

It was the second fatal small plane crash in Connecticut within the past week. Two people were killed in a crash near Skylark Airport in East Windsor on April 18.

An East Haven man was killed in a plane crash near Tweed New Haven Airport in February.

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