By Maddie Hanna
Concord Monitor
HILLSDALE, N.Y. — A Concord man died in a small plane crash discovered Friday near a ski area in upstate New York, authorities said yesterday.
John Welch, 64, and his 63-year-old passenger, Margaret Noonan of West Stockbridge, Mass., died in the crash, said Columbia County Sheriff David Harrison Jr., according to WMUR-TV.
Authorities believe the crash happened Wednesday and are still investigating the cause, according to WMUR.
A hunter called Massachusetts Emergency Services on Friday morning after discovering the crash near the Catamount ski area by the Massachusetts border, according to a statement released Friday by the Columbia County sheriff’s office.
But it took emergency responders until Friday afternoon to get to the crash site, which was thick with brush and had been on fire after the crash, according to the sheriff’s statement. Crews began searching for survivors, and as of yesterday had confirmed that one person died in the crash, according to the sheriff’s statement.
WMUR reported that Welch and Noonan were the only people on the plane, a small fixed-wing aircraft that authorities said hadn’t been reported missing.
Dispatchers in the sheriff’s office said last night no further information was available. The Monitor could not reach Welch’s family last night.
Copyright 2010 Concord Monitor/Sunday Monitor