Thomas Prinster & Lyle Hogg

Thomas Printer and Lyle Hogg are the pilot and copilot of a commuter plane that caught fire while flying over Rhode Island on February 21, 1982. As flames burned their clothing away, and smoke choked their lungs, Prinster and Hogg remained at the controls  and successfully brought the plane down for a crash landing on the frozen Scituate Reservoir.  Though badly burned themselves, they assisted the passengers from the burning wreckage and led them to safety at the shore. Their actions saved 11 lives.

RIAHOF spoke with Prinster in the spring of 2017 to notify him of his selection; sadly, he died August 28, 2018, so we deferred his recognition to 2019.

Lyle Hogg is now president of Piedmont Airlines, and was present at the November, 2019 ceremony which honored them both.

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