🔥 BREAKING NEWS: Small Plane Crashes in Vermont - Bad Weather Cited

Wednesday, February 26, 2025 - A small plane crashed into Mount Equinox near Manchester, Vermont, under challenging weather conditions. The aircraft, identified as a Piper PA-28 Cherokee Charger, was carrying three people when it went down around 3:50 a.m. The pilot managed to call 911 at 8:33 a.m. to report the crash, indicating that all three onboard had sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

The crash site, located on the rugged, snow-covered slopes of Mount Equinox—a peak reaching over 3,000 feet in Bennington County—was blanketed in 4 to 5 feet of snow, with fog, ice, and difficult terrain complicating rescue efforts. Emergency responders, including the Manchester Fire Department, local police, and technical rescue teams, worked tirelessly to reach the victims. Ground crews navigated the deep snow using snowshoes and snowmobiles, while helicopters from Dartmouth, New Hampshire, and New York were deployed to assist.

By late morning, around 11:40 a.m., the Manchester Fire Department located the wreckage and confirmed that the three survivors were being evaluated. Helicopter crews lowered paramedics to the scene, and after assessment, the decision was made to airlift the patients off the mountain. The snow, while adding to the rescue challenges, may have played a role in softening the impact, as one fire official noted it "helped cushion the fall." The first helicopter delivered a patient to the Manchester Public Safety Facility shortly after 12:45 p.m., where they were transferred to an ambulance. By 2:25 p.m., all three had been successfully airlifted two to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and one to Albany Medical Center for further medical evaluation.

The plane had taken off from Baltimore around 6 a.m., according to flight tracking data, and was circling west of Manchester before the crash, though its intended destination remains unclear. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the cause, which has not yet been determined. 17GEN4.com