Two men were injured and airlifted from the scene after crashing a small kit plane while attempting to land at the Jaffrey Airport. Credit: ASHLEY SAARI / Ledger-Transcript 
An overturned airplane is seen at the Jaffrey Airport Thursday afternoon. Credit: NOLAN SASNER / Courtesy 
Two men were injured and airlifted from the scene after crashing a small kit plane while attempting to land at the Jaffrey Airport. Credit: ASHLEY SAARI / Ledger-Transcript 
Two men were injured and airlifted from the scene after crashing a small kit plane while attempting to land at the Jaffrey Airport. Credit: ASHLEY SAARI / Ledger-Transcript 
Two men were injured and airlifted from the scene after crashing a small kit plane while attempting to land at the Jaffrey Airport. Credit: ASHLEY SAARI / Ledger-Transcript 
Two men were injured and airlifted from the scene after crashing a small kit plane while attempting to land at the Jaffrey Airport. Credit: ASHLEY SAARI / Ledger-Transcript 
Two men were injured and airlifted from the scene after crashing a small kit plane while attempting to land at the Jaffrey Airport. Credit: ASHLEY SAARI / Ledger-Transcript 
Two men were injured and airlifted from the scene after crashing a small kit plane while attempting to land at the Jaffrey Airport. Credit: ASHLEY SAARI / Ledger-Transcript
Two adult men were injured Thursday when a small plane crashed at Jaffrey Airport, prompting a large emergency response.
At just before noon on Thursday, fire, ambulance and police crews responded to the Silver Ranch Airpark for a report of a plane crash, where an RV-7, a small, home-built kit plane, had crashed and rolled, landing upside down just to the side of the landing strip.
The RV-7 is a two-seat, single-engine plane.
Airport manager Harvey Sawyer was one of the first on the scene. He said the plane had flown out of South Albany, New York, and was attempting to land in Jaffrey when the pilot lost control on landing.
“His first contact with the ground was about 30 feet from where he stopped,” said Sawyer. Sawyer said that conditions were not extreme on Thursday. “I totally didn’t expect it,” he said.
Sawyer said he spoke with both the pilot and passenger after the crash, and they were alert and asked about the airplane and their personal possessions.
“I think they’re going to be okay. They were definitely injured, but I don’t think they were life-threatening,” said Sawyer.
Jaffrey Police Chief Chris LaBrecque said the pilot and passenger both sustained torso and head injuries. According to Fire Chief David Chamberlain, the two were able to extricate themselves, with assistance from first responders, from the plane. They were assessed on the scene by Jaffrey-Rindge Memorial Ambulance, and airlifted by Boston Medflight and UMass Medflight, which landed on the airfield. Both men were taken to UMass Memorial in Worcester.
The Federal Aviation Administration was notified of the crash, and the scene secured until FAA investigators could arrive. The airstrip was closed immediately following the crash, with Sawyer saying the FAA will have to give clearance to reopen.
The Jaffrey-Rindge Memorial Ambulance, Jaffrey Fire Department, Jaffrey Police Department, Peterborough Ambulance, Peterborough Fire Department and Rindge Fire Department assisted at the scene.
