Traffic & Transit
Driver Dies After Route 9 Airborne Crash That Damaged House
The 19-year-old driver fled a state trooper in the moments before the crash, state police said.
BELCHERTOWN, MA — A 19-year-old driver died over the weekend after an airborne crash that sent his engine flying into a home along Route 9, according to state police.
According to police, a trooper tried to pull the driver over just before 9 p.m. Sunday along Route 202. The man sped off, but careened off Route 9 at a sharp curve in the road.
"Preliminary crash reconstruction indicates the Altima struck a mulch bed and became airborne, then subsequently struck a rock wall, a large tree, and a light post before striking the front end of a 2023 Jeep Wrangler that was parked in the driveway of a house at 79 North Main St.," state police said in a news release.
The impact of the crash was so hard, the engine of the car launched into the air and went through a wall and into the second floor of a brick home near the crash site.
The driver died at the scene. State police did not immediately identify him.
