By NICK STOICO
A man and a woman are recovering in Concord Hospital after their two-person plane crashed in the Mink Hills in Warner on Sunday night.
Warner fire Chief Ed Raymond said the couple suffered not life-threatening injuries. He added the couple are talking and are “in good spirits.”
“They are very, very lucky to have lived through something like that,” Raymond said.
Fire and rescue personnel responded to a call about 8:30 p.m. It took the pair about an hour to find a cell phone in the plane and call for help, Raymond said. With the help of GPS, firefighters were able to find the area of the crash and hear the couple’s yell back to them.
The plane crashed in the Harriman Chandler State Forest, about eight-tenths of a mile from where emergency responders could park their vehicles. It took 56 firefighters to safely relay the couple out of the woods and into ambulances. Raymond said the terrain was very rocky, and the crash site was about 500 feet uphill from the emergency vehicles.
“They’re extremely lucky, especially with the weather coming in right now,” Raymond said. “It’s getting pretty foggy up there.”
The plane crashed into heavy trees and broke into several pieces, Raymond said. One of the wings was caught in a tree about 30 feet above the ground, he said.
Raymond said the American Champion Aircraft was flying over Warner when the couple lost control while trying to turn around and fly back to Concord Municipal Airport. Their identities have not been released.
In all, between 65 and 70 firefighters responded to the call, Raymond said. Warner received support from several nearby departments, including Grafton, Sutton, Contoocook, Webster, Salisbury, Henniker, Hillsboro, Bradford and Concord.
“They did a great job,” Raymond said. “I couldn’t ask for a better team.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3309, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)