2 Rescued After Small Plane Crashes In New Hampshire
CONCORD, N.H. (CBS) -- A man and woman rescued after their small plane crashed into the side of a mountain in New Hampshire Sunday night are recovering and reportedly in good spirits, according to the Warner, N.H. fire chief.
The two-seat American Champion aircraft crashed in the Chandler Reservation near Stewart's Peak around 8 p.m. Sunday. The pilot was trying to turn back toward the Concord Airport when the plane crashed.
Warner resident Deb Moore told WBZ the plane was "very low to the house...(made a) very loud rumbling noise" and circled the area about three times. When the noise stopped, she decided to call 911.
It took rescuers about 30 minutes to hike in and help those on board.
Fire chief: 2 people recovering at concord NH hospital after their small plane crashed. Both in "good spirits" #wbz pic.twitter.com/c6xb8CenLe
— Anna Meiler (@AnnaMeiler) May 30, 2016
Warner Fire Chief Ed Raymond said the pilot and passenger are very lucky to be alive.
"Extremely lucky," he said. "If I were them, I'd go and buy a Megabucks ticket, although they may have run all their luck out."
The woman used her cell phone to call 911, and authorities were able to use GPS to guide rescuers to the crash.
"It looked like what they call a yard sale," Raymond says. "Everything was all over the place, including one wing still 30 feet in the air."
Raymond said the challenging search-and-rescue operation involved a group of 52 people, who had to navigate rocky terrain and thick woods to find the two victims. Eight fire departments were called in for backup to help carry the pair out of the woods.
The two are now recovering in a hospital in Concord, N.H.
"They were both in good spirits," Raymond said. "One was hurt more than the other, but I don't think there are any life-threatening injuries at this time."
Bad weather is believed to have played a part.
"The fog was starting to set down in, the cloud cover was very thick," said Chief Raymond. "So visibility really became a factor."
Federal investigators were trying to determine the cause of the crash Monday.
WBZ-TV's Anna Meiler and Christina Hager contributed to this report.