New Hampshire State Police and Marine Patrol officers inspect a small amphibious airplane on Sunday that crashed in the Connecticut River near Haverhill. (Courtesy N.H. State Police)
New Hampshire State Police and Marine Patrol officers inspect a small amphibious airplane on Sunday that crashed in the Connecticut River near Haverhill. (Courtesy N.H. State Police) Credit: —Courtesy photograph

Haverhill — Two people were taken to Upper Valley hospitals on Sunday afternoon after their small amphibious plane crashed in the Connecticut River, according to authorities.

The single-engine SeaRey plane crashed into the Connecticut shortly after 12:30 p.m. near Haverhill, according a New Hampshire State Police news release.

Two people were rescued from the Vermont side of the river near Harkdale Farms in Newbury, Vt., according to Todd Robinson, director of Woodsville Emergency Services, which responded to the scene along with the Wells River Fire Department, another pilot and a tour helicopter from the nearby Haverhill Fair.

One of the victims was taken to Cottage Hospital in Woodsville, and the other was airlifted by DHART to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, Robinson said.

The occupant taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock was listed stable condition on Sunday night, according to New Hampshire State Police. Earlier in the day, Robinson said both were expected to live.

The names of the pilot and passenger were not immediately available.

Russell Carson, who owns the dairy farm off Montebello Road, said he saw two sea planes attempt to land in the river as he raked and mowed his fields on Sunday afternoon.

“One of them landed just fine, but the second one landed and immediately hit something,” he said in a phone interview.

An occupant from the crash was ejected and ultimately ended up in the river, roughly 100 yards from Carson’s home, he said.

Meanwhile, the plane itself floated for nearly half a mile downstream before becoming snagged along the shore.

“There (were) ambulances and firetrucks and all the firemen with their pickup trucks,” said Carson, adding that four Vermont State Police cruisers also responded.

New Hampshire State Police later took over the scene because the Connecticut River sits within its state borders.

The crash is currently being investigated by State Police, Marine Patrol and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Carson said the damaged aircraft is expected to be hauled from the river this morning.

Weather conditions were clear with a temperature of 75 degrees in St. Johnsbury, Vt., the nearest weather station to Newbury, around the time of the crash, according to the National Weather Service.