Small plane plummets and sinks into New Hampshire lake as boaters watch

Boaters watched in shock Sunday afternoon as a small plane fell 1,000 feet into New Hampshire’s Meredith Bay and sank into 65 feet of water, police say.

One witness, an off-duty cop, reportedly managed to pull the pilot aboard a boat. The pilot, identified as 78-year-old David Grapes of Center Harbor, N.H., suffered non-life threatening injuries, New Hampshire State Police said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Marine Patrol Officer Zachary Cobis was patrolling Lake Winnipesaukee about 3 p.m. Sunday when he was flagged down by a boater who reported seeing an ultralight plane crash into the water, police said. The plane sank not long after hitting the water, according to witnesses.

“Cobis immediately responded ... and located the pilot, who had been pulled from the water by other boaters,” police said. “Officers learned that the ultralight was approximately 1,000 feet above the bay when the engine stopped.”

Grapes was the only person in the plane when it hit the water and sank to the bottom of the harbor, officials said. He was taken to a hospital.

Witness Joe Ponzo, an off-duty police officer in Stoneham, Mass., was among the witnesses who rushed to help, WMUR reported. Another bystander got a life jacket on the pilot, and Ponzo said he pulled Grapes into a boat.

“I’ve been on the job 23 years, this is one of the most bizarre events I’ve ever seen,” Ponzo told CBS Boston. “It just kind of dropped out of the sky, came nose-first right into the water. I’m like, ‘Oh my god it just crashed.’”