Heroes of the week: Mass. State Police Marine Unit, No. Andover and Methuen Fire & Police Depts.

This week's heroes are the men and women of the Massachusetts State Police Marine Unit and Dive Team, North Andover and Methuen Fire and Police Departments,  all raced to the Merrimack River in northern Massachusetts to recover the body of a helicopter pilot. Here's the story from Boston dot com 

(Photo: the Massachusetts State Police Marine Unit and Dive Team attends to the plane crash in the Merrimack River, Methuen, Mass. Credit: NBC Boston)

Pilot dead after single-engine plane crashes into Merrimack River 

 The pilot was the only person on board, the FAA said. 

By Emily Spatz, Boston Com, June 17, 2024

One person died when a small plane crashed into the Merrimack River in Methuen Monday afternoon, June 17, 2024, officials said.

The pilot of the aircraft was the only person on board, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. Dive teams had been deployed in a recovery effort Monday afternoon, Methuen Assistant Fire Chief Michael Fluet said at a press conference.

Massachusetts State Police Marine Unit and Dive Team responded to the site and recovered the pilot’s body, Boston 25 News reported. State Police did not immediately return requests for comment from Boston.com Wednesday afternoon.

The North Andover fire and police departments were first notified that there was a possible plane crash on their side of the river at 2:15 p.m., North Andover Deputy Fire Chief Graham Rowe said at the press conference. He said the Lawrence Municipal Airport told officials that contact with the aircraft had been lost.

The actual location of the crash was later determined to be in Methuen, officials said.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/0wMtiJCZw0g?si=Tke2p_Wc9bGq-_Ak

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The plane was in a “remote location” and upside down in the water when officials arrived, Rowe said. The aircraft is a single-engine Van’s RV-6A, the FAA said.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident. Representatives from both agencies were on scene Monday afternoon, according to officials.