It happened fast. One minute, the radar was clear over the rugged, dense forests of northern New Hampshire, and the next, a small Cirrus SR22 vanished. This wasn't a movie script. It was a cold reality in the town of Milan, specifically near the Berlin Regional Airport. When people search for details on a New Hampshire plane crash, they are often looking for a "why" that isn't always easy to find in the immediate aftermath of twisted metal and NTSB reports.
The December 2024 incident in Milan remains one of the most sobering reminders of how unforgiving the White Mountains can be. Two people lost their lives. That’s the heavy part. You see these headlines and think about engine failure or pilot error, but the technical reality of flying in the Great North Woods involves a chaotic cocktail of shifting winds, rapid elevation changes, and visibility that can disappear in a heartbeat.
Honestly, the "New Hampshire plane crash" isn't just one event—it’s a recurring nightmare for the local Search and Rescue teams who have to navigate terrain that is essentially a vertical maze of pine and granite.
The Milan Incident: Breaking Down the Timeline
On a Friday night that felt routine to many, the Cirrus SR22 was making its approach. The Berlin Regional Airport isn't exactly O'Hare. It’s a quiet strip surrounded by the kind of wilderness that swallows sound. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and local New Hampshire State Police, the aircraft went down in a heavily wooded area about a mile from the runway.
Think about that distance. A mile.
In a car, that’s sixty seconds of cruising. In a failing aircraft over Milan, it's an eternity of trying to find a clearing that doesn't exist. The victims were identified as 79-year-old pilot Robert Gillingham and 74-year-old passenger Paula Gillingham. They were from New York. They were experienced. This wasn't some novice taking a joyride; this was a seasoned pilot in a high-tech aircraft equipped with a parachute system (CAPS), which is a signature feature of Cirrus planes.
So, why didn't the parachute save them? That is the question investigators have been chewing on.
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Sometimes, the altitude is just too low. Or the deployment happens too late. The wreckage was found on a Saturday morning after a grueling search through the brush. It’s the kind of news that hits the local aviation community like a physical punch to the gut. Everyone knows everyone at these small municipal hangars.
Why New Hampshire Is Secretly Dangerous for Pilots
If you look at the flight maps, New Hampshire looks peaceful. It's green. It's scenic. But pilots will tell you that the "Mount Washington Valley effect" is a real thing. The weather here is moody. You can have a clear ceiling in Concord and be flying into a wall of "scud" or low-hanging clouds by the time you hit the notches.
A New Hampshire plane crash is rarely the result of one single mistake. It's usually a "Swiss Cheese" model of failure—where the holes in the cheese line up perfectly.
- Sudden downdrafts coming off the Presidential Range.
- Rapid icing that adds weight to the wings in seconds.
- Dark, unlit terrain that offers zero depth perception at night.
Most people don't realize that Berlin Regional Airport sits at an elevation of about 1,100 feet, but the surrounding peaks jump up significantly higher. If you're slightly off-course or losing altitude, the margin for error is basically zero. You've got trees that are fifty feet tall and packed so tightly that a downed plane can be invisible from the air for hours, even with heat-sensing gear.
The Role of the NTSB and the Slow Grind of Truth
Whenever a New Hampshire plane crash makes the news, the internet fills up with "armchair investigators." You've probably seen them on forums, speculating about fuel starvation or mechanical hiccups. But the NTSB doesn't work that way. They are slow. They are methodical.
They hauled the Milan wreckage to a secure facility to tear it down piece by piece. They look at the "four pillars" of an investigation:
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- Man (Was the pilot fatigued? Health issues?)
- Machine (Did a fuel pump fail? Was there a maintenance lapse?)
- Medium (Was the wind shear too much for the airframe?)
- Mission (Was the pilot rushing to beat a storm?)
In the case of the Milan crash, the preliminary report focused on the approach phase. But "preliminary" is a keyword here. It’s just the facts of where the plane landed and what the weather was. The final probable cause? That can take 12 to 24 months. It’s frustrating for the families, but it’s the only way to ensure the same mistake doesn't kill someone else next year.
I remember talking to a local flight instructor who said the hardest part isn't the flying—it's the "go/no-go" decision. New Hampshire is a place where "no-go" is often the smartest move you'll ever make.
What People Get Wrong About Small Plane Safety
There’s this weird myth that small planes are "death traps." You’ll hear people say they’d never get in one. But statistically, general aviation is remarkably safe when you account for the millions of hours flown.
The problem is the "visibility" of the accidents. A car crash on I-93 barely makes the local blotter. A New Hampshire plane crash gets a helicopter news crew and a multi-agency response.
The Cirrus SR22 involved in the Milan crash is actually one of the safest planes ever built because of that built-in parachute. When things go wrong, you pull a handle, and the whole plane floats down. But even the best tech has limits. If you're in a steep dive or if you're too close to the ground, the physics just don't work in your favor. It's a sobering thought.
Search and Rescue: The Unsung Heroes of the North Woods
When the call went out for the missing plane in Milan, it wasn't just the FAA involved. You had the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, local fire crews, and Civil Air Patrol. These people are incredible. They spend their weekends hiking through frozen mud and dense spruce just to bring closure to families.
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Searching for a New Hampshire plane crash site is a nightmare. The canopy is so thick that a white and silver plane looks like a patch of snow or a granite slab from 2,000 feet up. In the Milan case, the searchers had to deal with the psychological weight of knowing the clock was ticking. Every hour that passes in a New Hampshire winter reduces the "rescue" odds and increases the "recovery" likelihood.
It’s grueling work that honestly doesn't get enough credit in the national news cycle.
Lessons Learned and Practical Steps for the Future
We can't change what happened in Milan, but we can look at the patterns. Aviation safety is built on the blood of those who came before. Every time a New Hampshire plane crash occurs, the FAA looks at the "Instrument Approach" procedures for that specific airport.
Could the lighting be better?
Should the minimum descent altitude be higher?
For those who fly, or those who have family members who do, there are some hard-earned takeaways from these tragedies:
- Never scrimp on weather briefings: The weather in the North Country is a different beast than the rest of New England. If the METARs look even slightly "iffy," stay on the ground.
- Understand the "Canyon" effect: Even if you aren't in a canyon, the ridges of New Hampshire create localized wind patterns that can drop a small plane 500 feet in a second.
- Check the ELT: Emergency Locator Transmitters are life-savers, but they have to be maintained. In remote areas like Milan or the Kilkenny Wilderness, that signal is your only link to the world.
The Milan crash was a tragedy that took two lives and left a hole in a family. It also served as a stark reminder of the reality of flight in the Northeast. It’s a beautiful, dangerous, and demanding pursuit.
The best way to honor those lost is to obsess over the details they might have missed. Read the NTSB reports when they come out. Don't just skim the headlines. Look at the data.
To stay informed or assist in general aviation safety, you should regularly check the NTSB's Aviation Accident Database for final reports on New Hampshire incidents. If you live near a municipal airport, supporting funding for improved navigational aids and clearing of approach paths is a tangible way to make the skies over the Granite State just a little bit safer for everyone.