"A Miracle of God's Hands" When Airplane Crashed Into Apartment Building
Friday night should have been a time of fun for the youth at Hope Chapel in Keene, New Hampshire, as well as a relaxing start to the weekend for residents next door. Instead, it turned out to be a night of fiery terror.
The youth at Hope Chapel were having a game night according to Youth Pastor Nathaniel Stiles, getting ready to play a contemporary version of dodgeball called Gaga.
A few of the youth were drawn to a window where they could see thick smoke and enormous flames overtaking a four-family dwelling that was only about 50 feet away on the other end of the chapel parking lot.
“We see the red flames and bright skies and the kids go into mass panic,” Stiles told MSN in a phone interview Saturday. “The kids are just deathly afraid and scared and traumatized from what they are seeing 50 feet away from us.”
2 people dead after plane crashes into building in Keene https://t.co/4IzROL2dTb
— WMUR TV (@WMUR9) October 23, 2022
The massive fire was the result of a single-engine Beechcraft Sierra airplane that had crashed into a garage attached to the four-family dwelling. The plane had only flown about an eighth of a mile from the end of the Dillant-Hopkins Airport runway.
“It’s a miracle and pure act of God that no one within the church nor any of the residents of the apartment complex walked with any injuries,” Stiles said. “It is a miracle in God’s Hands.”
“We are so thankful to God for getting every child and every person out of there alive. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost their home and the pilot and passenger who lost their lives, and kids who watched as this tragedy unfolded.”
The NTSB said the two men flying the plane were pilot rated, according to WMUR.
Keene deadly plane crash https://t.co/SpHKJEkD65
— WMUR TV (@WMUR9) October 23, 2022
They have been identified as Lawrence Marchiony, 41, of Baldwinville, Massachusetts, and Marvin David Dezendorf, 60, of Townshend, Vermont. The airport was near the crash location.
The apartment owner’s name is Wayne Brown, according to WMUR.
“I lived here my whole life,” Brown said. “You know where the airport is. You hope nothing like this will ever happen.”
Brown said he knew it was youth night, and was praying the flames would stay away from the church.
Though residents have been displaced, the Red Cross is helping each of them find a new place to live.
An investigation is still underway in an effort to determine the cause of the crash.
