Two Dead in Small Plane Crash Into New Hampshire Apartment Building

Two people are dead after a small plane crashed into a building in Keene on Friday night, according to the Keene mayor.

Keene Mayor George Hansel said the plane crashed shortly after departure from the Dillant-Hopkins Airport.

The plane crashed into a multifamily building at 6:48 p.m., which started a fire.

“There were no injuries at the multifamily building. Unfortunately those on the plane have perished,” the city said in a Facebook post.

Two people were on the aircraft, Mayor George Hansel said at a news conference on Saturday.

Their names have not been released.

A single-engine airplane crashed into a home Friday evening near an airport in New Hampshire, killing everyone on board. https://t.co/N98DM7BxPr

— CNN (@CNN) October 22, 2022

WATCH:

WMUR 9 reported:

Officials said the three-alarm fire was out by 8:47 p.m. The plane hit a garage attached to the building.

“So the point of impact was somewhat remote from the main body of the house,” Keene fire Chief Donald Farquhar said.

The plane is owned by Monadnock Aviation, Hansel said.

“The fact that it hit a building where eight people were living and none of those people were injured is an important detail, and we’re very lucky,” Hansel said.

The Federal Aviation Administration and New Hampshire Department of Transportation were at the scene on Saturday and the National Transportation Safety Board would also be there Saturday and the lead agency, according to Hansel.

NBC News added:

The aircraft crashed shortly after leaving the Keene Dillant-Hopkins Airport. 911 calls came in around 6:50 p.m.

“I want to first and foremost express the city of Keene’s sympathies to the family members of those who passed away,” Hansel said.

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Scott Gauthier told NBC News affiliate NBC10 Boston that he heard a loud noise and he could feel the building shaking.

“The whole building shook and then my mother went out to check on what was going on and she started screaming, ‘get out of the house.'”

He added that by the time he got out “you could feel the flames off the building.”

Officials said Saturday that eight people lived in the two-story building that had four apartment units. The crash caused “significant damage,” a fire official told reporters.

Keene Police Capt. Steve Tenney told NBC10 Boston that he did not know why the plane came down.

Aerial footage showed heavy smoke at 9 p.m., more than two hours after the crash was reported, the station reported.