Small Plane Crashes Into New Hampshire Lake

A New Hampshire man is lucky to be alive after the plane he was piloting plummeted into Meredith Bay.

According to yahoo.com, boaters saw the plane take a nose dive from about 1,000 feet in the air and hit the water.  One of the witnesses happened to be an off duty officer who was able to get the pilot to safety.

New Hampshire State Police posted on their Facebook page:

The pilot, 78-year-old David Grapes of Center Harbor, N.H., was taken to the hospital with non life threatening injuries, according to yahoo.com.

Witnesses say the plane quickly sank soon after hitting the water. Other boaters were able to pull the pilot from the plane, before Officer Zachary Cobis was flagged down and came to help.

WMUR reports that Joe Ponzo, an off duty officer from Stoneham, MA was one of the first people to get to Grapes and helped pull him to safety.

Ponzo tells WMUR:

"Another bystander that was on a boat that was next to me was able to get a life jacket on him so I was able to grab the life jacket and get the guy up on the boat. We had him on the back of the boat, my wife was just comforting him because he was in complete shock."

The FAA was notified and salvage divers will try to recover the plane later this week, according to WMUR.

WPRI also reported on the story:

Glad everyone is alright!