BOSTON — A plane crashed into a residential neighborhood in Londonderry Friday morning, nearly striking a home, according to local public safety and Federal Aviation Administration officials who are investigating the wreck.
Only the pilot was on board the aircraft — Wiggins Air Flight 1046 — that plunged into the neighborhood southwest of Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in New Hampshire at around 7:30 a.m., the FAA said.
The plane crashed into the woods next to Colonial Drive — only about 70 feet from a home.
“Right on where the lawn of this residence met the tree line of the woods, so it was very, very close,” Londonderry Fire Chief Chief Bo Butler said at a press conference.
The pilot after the crash, while he was trapped in the wreckage, was reportedly able to call 911.
“A lucky day, a really lucky day,” Butler said.
First responders descended on the scene after the plane crash, and firefighters were able to extricate the pilot from the cockpit. Firefighters pulled the pilot out through the front windshield, then put him on a stretcher and brought him to an ambulance.
The pilot was initially transported to a local hospital, and then was transported to a Boston hospital. His condition was not immediately released, but officials said he was responsive.
“It was a challenging environment because as you can imagine, the fuselage is very compromised and damaged,” the fire chief said. “So getting access to the pilot himself through the crews and through the rescue tools was very, very difficult, but ultimately they pulled it off, relatively quickly.”
“He ought to play the lottery, for sure,” Butler later added. “This was a very significant emergency response that we responded to, and a lot of things could have gone wrong, further than the aircraft crashing itself.”
Shortly after the flight took off, the Manchester airport communications center was contacted by air traffic control about a “pending aircraft emergency,” according to an airport official.
“The Beechcraft 99 departed Manchester and was headed to Presque Isle International Airport in Maine,” a spokesperson for the FAA said.
“The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate,” the spokesperson added. “The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates.”
Airport representatives then responded to the crash scene to help Londonderry first responders in securing the site.
About 250 gallons of jet fuel were on board, so Londonderry officials called in the Hazmat team to start conducting hazardous mitigation.
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