A father and his two adult children managed to survive the impossible — a plane crash on a snowy Vermont mountain. Fortunately, despite being shaken by the crash, they managed to live to tell the tale.
John Murphy was flying with his two children when the plane he was piloting crashed into Vermont's Mount Equinox. The plane crash happened on Wednesday morning, crashing into several trees before stopping in the snow. Fortunately, the family managed to contact emergency services after the crash. More than 10o people came to their aid.
However, they struggled to get to them through all that snow and winter weather.
The plane went down around 8:30 a.m. EST Wednesday near the top of Mount Equinox in Vermont. It came to a stop amid twisted metal, towering trees, and on top of several feet of snow. "It was a very heavily wooded area, but we found them," New York State Police Pilot Major Jonathan Sperber said.
Plane Crash Survivors
Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Ranger Gullen said that he was surprised that no one was seriously injured during the plane crash.
"Waling up and seeing that fuselage down on the ground, it was really hard to believe. I was surprised to know that there were [only] minor injuries," Gullen said.
Following his brush with death, Murphy was thankful that they somehow survived.
"It's a miracle we're alive," Murphy said in a phone interview with The Baltimore Banner. "My daughter (25-years-old) miraculously doesn't have a scratch on her, while my son (24-years-old) suffered severe whiplash and needed staples in his head. I broke a bone in my hand and experienced a little bit of whiplash."
Rescue crews helped the survivors into the helicopter.
"I think they were a little uncomfortable having to get back into an aircraft after the experience they just had," Gullen said. "Huge sigh of relief, like, once I got all three hooked up and I was able to say 'you're clear for flight' it was like, ok, we did it. We got them out."
Rescue crews were glad that everyone survived.
"It's always a real sense of relief, especially with a plane crash like that," Forest Ranger Michael Thompson said. "We don't do a lot of plane crashes, especially with an outcome like this, so that was a really good feeling."
