Trooper Joseph Benjamin Thomas

Joseph Benjamin Thomas

Trooper Joseph Thomas and Trooper Robert Porter were killed in an airplane accident in Allmondsville, Gloucester County, Virginia, after delivering a message to the family of a drowning victim that the woman's body had been found.

The troopers had dropped a tablet containing the note in the family's yard and were attempting to ascend when the Aeronca Champion single-engine plane stalled and crashed into a yard along the York River.

Trooper Thomas was piloting the airplane at the time.

Trooper Thomas was survived by his wife, mother, sister, and brother. His brother alo served with the Virginia State Police.