Cockpit door found 6 miles away from site of New Hampshire plane crash, NTSB says
The door of a plane that crashed in New Hampshire last week was found six miles away from the site of the wreck, investigators announced Monday.
The National Transportation Safety Board said that the left cockpit door and hatch were located in a yard about six miles north of Colonial Drive in Londonderry, where a Beech C99 airplane crashed on Friday morning.
Londonderry Fire Chief Bo Butler said the plane landed in the woods about 70 feet from a home on Colonial Drive. The pilot was pulled from the wreckage and taken to a local hospital before being transferred to Boston for additional treatment.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane crashed shortly after departing Manchester-Boston Regional Airport for Presque Isle in Maine.
The wreckage was recovered Saturday and taken to a secure facility in Westfield, Massachusetts, for further examination, according to the NTSB.
NTSB investigators are still working to gather information on flight track data, aircraft maintenance records, whether weather played a role in the crash, and the pilot’s flying experience, among other things.
The NTSB noted that a preliminary report on the crash will be made available within 30 days.
Brian Croteau, a former Londonderry paramedic and firefighter, was first on the scene and found the pilot alive and mumbling.
“He was trying to get his seatbelt off and it looked like he was trying to get out of the plane,” Croteau told Boston 25. “His dashboard was kinda pushed up into his legs and he was kinda pushed forward. Looked like he might have hit his face on the dash.”
The FAA confirmed that the pilot was the only person on the plane.
There were no other reported injuries.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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