Above: The left door hatch of a small aircraft that crashed in Londonderry on Friday was found in a residential backyard in Manchester. Photo/NTSB
MANCHESTER, NH — A piece of a Beechcraft Airliner turboprop aircraft that crashed Friday in Londonderry was recovered in a residential backyard on the city’s East Side.
Manchester police were notified about an hour after the crash that a resident of Manchester located what was believed to be parts of the plane in their yard, located off Bridge Street near St. Nicholas Orthodox Church.
Police responded and then notified Londonderry police, Manchester Airport, and National Transportation Safety Board investigators, who responded to the scene in Manchester and took control of the investigation.
On Sunday NTSB verified that the found item was the left door/hatch from the aircraft recovered about six miles north of the crash site in Manchester. Photographs were taken at the scene, and the item was removed from the property.
The crash
On Friday Wiggins Flight 1046 left the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport at 7:10 a.m. headed to Presque Isle, Maine, when it started experiencing issues around Lake Massabesic.
Several witnesses in Manchester reported that the plane was “low, loud, and appeared out of control.” FlightAware shows an erratic flight pattern while attempting to return to the airport.
Airport Manager Ted Kitchen said airport communications advised of a “pending aircraft emergency” at 7:25 a.m., which activated rescue personnel to position themselves on the runway. At 7:28 a.m., the tower advised the plane had crashed in Londonderry, and crews were dispatched.
At the scene of the crash, the aircraft was significantly damaged, and crews worked to extricate the pilot who was trapped. The pilot, who officials have not identified, was seriously injured and transported to the Elliot Hospital and then transferred to a Boston hospital with unspecified injuries.