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Survivor of July plane crash dies of injuries

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Keith Ulich, the sole survivor of the July plane crash at Newport State Airport, has died.

Ulich, 38, of Newport, was pronounced dead at Rhode Island Hospital on Monday at 1:15 a.m., a hospital spokeswoman said.

On July 3, Ulich was riding in a 1977 Piper PA-28 with his wife, local innkeeper Pamela Ulich Lancaster, 43, and with flight instructor Charles W. Thompson, 63, also of Newport, when the single-engine plane crashed about 700 feet from the runway of the Middletown airport. The plane had lost power shortly after takeoff at about 7:30 p.m.

The crash killed Ulich Lancaster and Thompson instantly. An eyewitness that evening told The Journal that he had seen two men pull a badly burned Ulich from the burning wreckage and had heard him yell, “I’m OK. I’m OK. Get my wife out of there.”

Ulich had remained in critical condition in an induced coma since the crash. Because of the severity of his burns, doctors had removed both of his feet.

The Ulichs had settled in Newport after living in New York. Ulich Lancaster, a singer and performer with Newport Playhouse, owned the Dragonfly Inn at 33 Russell Ave. Ulich was studying for a pilot’s license.

Thompson was a flight enthusiast and had worked in human services for 20 years. He helped start the Providence rock club Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, a review that could take four more months.

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