3 injured in small plane crash atop Mount Equinox in Vermont
Initial reports suggest that foggy weather may have played a role in the accident, though the investigation is still ongoing.
A helicopter prepares to aid the rescue effort on Mount Equinox. (Photo credit: City of Rutland Fire Dept.)
Federal investigators were on the scene of a small plane crash on Mount Equinox in Vermont on Friday to try and determine the cause. Three people where injured when the plane went down early Wednesday morning.
The plane, a single-engine Piper Cherokee Charger, departed from Baltimore around 6 a.m. Its flight path, recorded by Flightradar24, indicates the aircraft circled the area west of Manchester before its journey abruptly ended at approximately 8:30 a.m.
Equinox Mountain and pond in Vermont. (File photo credit: Getty Images)
Emergency responders from the Manchester Fire Department located the downed plane at 11:39 a.m. The search and rescue operation was hampered by challenging conditions, including snow, ice, and the remote location of the crash site. "Rescue crews faced extremely difficult conditions, navigating through snow up to four feet deep near the top of the mountain," the Manchester Fire Department said on Facebook.
Additional crews trained in technical rescues were brought in by helicopters to hoist the survivors from the snowy mountain and take them to nearby hospitals.
"The area was foggy that morning, which added to the challenges," Manchester Town Manager Scott Murphy added. That foggy weather may have played a role in the accident, though the investigation is still ongoing.
"Temperatures were around freezing and the wind was west to northwest between 5-15 mph and above 2000 feet there were probably gusts to around 20 mph," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tom Kines said. "During the late morning the wind picked up averaging 10-20 mph with gust to 25-30. There is between 2-4 feet of snow on the ground between 2 and 3,000 feet."
While it made the rescue difficult, all that snow may have helped those in the plane survive the crash. Jamie Greene, first assistant chief of the Manchester Fire Department, credited the heavy mantling of snow as a factor in potentially improving the outcome for the pilot and two passengers aboard the plane.
"Obviously the snow helped cushion the fall," he said, adding that the pilot was able to maneuver the plane to avoid trees as it crashed.
The names of the injured as well as their current conditions have not been released.
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