Pilot in Saturday plane crash found in The Broads

GILFORD — The body of the pilot of a single-engine airplane that crashed into The Broads of Lake Winnipesaukee on Saturday evening was recovered Sunday, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game.

Witnesses said they saw and heard the aircraft flying abnormally before it descended, then heard a loud that crash came from the open water between the Lake Shore Park and Ellacoya State Park beaches and Welch Island. 

The pilot’s identity has not yet been released, but the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement the Cessna 150, a two-seated plane had no other occupants.

Scott Cowdrey told The Daily Sun in an interview that he and a few friends were gathered around a fire in front of his residence on the beach at Lake Shore Park Saturday evening around 7:45 p.m. He noticed an airplane outside of the usual flight path for those approaching nearby Laconia Municipal Airport.

“It made a weird turn” toward the beach, rather than toward the airport, Cowdrey said. The plane’s lights showed that it also was rising and dropping somewhat erratically and its engine sounds fluctuated. 

Cowdrey alerted the group around him, and said he worried it would crash. 

“Then I heard the engine rev way up, and all of a sudden it came down hard at a 45-degree angle,” Cowdrey said. The plane’s lights and its engine sounds disappeared, and a loud crash followed. 

A member of the group called 911, and they went out in a boat to search for the pilot.

“I was in awe,” Cowdrey said. “My heart was going.”

The group did not see any signs of the plane or its pilot, and returned to Lake Shore Park after first responder vessels arrived. They watched the search effort from shore until after 10:30 p.m.

“As witnesses, we’re just concerned for the family,” said Darren Sargent, another Lake Shore Park resident who observed the crash. 

First responders found a debris field, and the pilot was located by New Hampshire Fish and Game divers in nearly 60 feet of water around 11:30 a.m. Sunday, according to a release from Fish and Game.

Autopsies are required by law to be performed on anyone who dies in a civil aviation accident, and the National Transportation Safety Board will lead an investigation.