Authorities confirmed Wednesday morning that a tiny plane carrying three people crashed into the summit of a secluded mountain in southern Vermont.

A Piper PA-28 crashed at approximately 3:50 am close to the 3,000-foot summit of Equinox Mountain, just west of Manchester, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

At a press conference, Jamie Greene, the Manchester Fire Department’s first assistant chief, stated, “The snow helped cushion the fall.”

Greene added that this also made the rescue workers’ task of wading through “snow up to four feet deep” “extremely difficult.”

At 8:33 a.m., the pilot reported the incident to 911, stating that all three passengers sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The reason for the hours-long lag between the crash and the call to the police is still unknown.

Source: Freepik
Before first responders were able to locate the aircraft at approximately 10:16 a.m., local authorities requested more assistance from New York State Police.

A helicopter from the New York State Police was observed en route to the scene of the collision. The Manchester Public Safety Facility received all three of the passengers after a successful airlift.

After that, one traveler was brought to Albany Medical Center for additional assessment.

The New York and Vermont state police departments, together with at least six municipal organizations, collaborated on the rescue effort.