Island-bound plane crashes
Pilot Kevin Derwin and three passengers were headed to Martha’s Vineyard when they left Boire Field at Nashua Municipal Airport on Sunday in a small rental plane.
Around 12:45 p.m., their trip was cut short when the plane crash-landed in a Rochester, Mass., cranberry bog.
Derwin was forced to land the plane because of engine trouble, according to Rochester police.
Everyone walked away from the crash unharmed except for seat-belt bruises, said Rochester Fire Chief Scott Weigel, who was among those who responded to the call.
“They were pretty calm,” Weigel said. “I was surprised. They must have been a little shaken up, but when I talked to them, they were pretty good, they didn’t show it much.”
The plane was “extensively damaged” in the crash, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Holly Baker.
They were flying over a large bog area off Dexter Lane when Derwin had to bring the plane down, said Rochester Police Chief Paul Magee.
But as he tried to land it, he soon realized there wasn’t enough distance between the plane and a road embankment rising out of the bog in front of him, Magee said.
He managed to pull the plane up enough to glide it over the embankment and land on the other side, Magee said.
“He did a fantastic job,” Magee said.
All four people had gotten out of the plane when help arrived a few minutes later, Weigel said.
They seemed to be unhurt but agreed to a quick exam at Tobey Hospital in Wareham, Mass., just as a precaution, he said. They were released the same day, Magee said.
Derwin, 28, lives in Ashland, Mass., according to police. His passengers were Naren Nayak, 27, of Hampstead; and Tina Hass, 33, and Matthias Hass, 38, of Lawrence, Mass., police said.
The plane, a single-engine Cessna 172, belongs to New England Flight Operations, of Holbrook Hill Road in Bedford, N.H.
It will remain in Rochester until the FAA is done examining it, Weigel said.
The FAA, the Rochester police, and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, according to police.
