This is a developing story.
A cargo plane that departed Manchester-Boston Regional Airport crashed approximately 20 minutes after takeoff Friday morning, descending into a residential neighborhood in Londonderry.
Wiggins Air Flight 1046 departed at 7:10 a.m. enroute for Presque Isle International Airport in Maine, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, with only the pilot on board.
The pilot survived the crash and made a 911 distress call from the mangled cockpit, Londonderry Fire Chief Bo Butler said during a press conference Friday. The pilot was conscious during rescue operations and initially transferred to a nearby hospital before being sent to a medical facility in Boston.
“It was a challenging environment, because as you can imagine, the fuselage is very compromised and damaged,” said Butler, adding that rescue workers “pulled it off relatively quickly.”
The plane crashed approximately 70 feet from a single-family home on Colonial Drive, about five miles from the runway where it departed.
Hazmat crews were working Friday morning to contain 250 gallons of jet fuel spilled during the crash.
Airplane tracking site FlightAware shows the plane departed approximately 50 minutes late Friday morning. It isn’t clear if inclement weather was the cause of that delay.
The Beechcraft 99 twin turbo-prop made the same flight three consecutive days earlier this week.
The FAA said the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the crash.
(Editor’s note: this post has been updated with additional information)
