STOW, MASS. (WHDH) - Family members of three people involved in a plane crash in Stow on Sunday recently described the situation as a miracle as their loved ones continue their recoveries.
“I saw the airplane wreckage, and I said ‘I have no idea how they could survive,’” Louis Bauer told reporters.
Members of the Bauer family said pilot James, his brother Bob and Bob’s daughter Daniella were all on board a Cessna plane that crashed Sunday afternoon near Taylor Road in Stow. The group was on their way back from a trip to pick Daniella up at a sports camp in Lake Placid, New York.
Stow authorities said the plane crashed in a residential area near a home. Authorities, in a statement, said one passenger on the plane was able to get out after the crash while others had to be extricated. All three people in the plane were then flown to hospitals in helicopters.
While the three remained in ICU care on Monday, family members said they are expected to survive.
“Considering what happened, I think we are all feeling very fortunate, very blessed that they’re alive,” said Norma Lavini, the sister of the plane’s pilot.
The pilot, James, is a retired Delta mechanic and has been flying for about a year, according to family members.
“He was pretty good,” Lavini said. “I know he has a lot of flying hours.”
“The one thing that neighbor commended him for is that my brother had the brains to go in between the trees and not impact any homes or anybody else,” Lavini continued.
Family members said James suffered broken ribs and cuts to his face. His brother, Bob, had a massive cut on his head, needing eight staples. Family members said Bob could not move his neck as of Monday.
Daniella had a broken wrist and jaw but was walking again on Monday.
“My brother was sitting in the backseat and I was looking — there’s no backseat,” Louis Bauer said. “Everything is compressed, almost, to the front. It’s a miracle that happened.”
Family members were able to get some personal items from the plane on Monday with help from a safety inspector who said an investigation into this crash is underway.
“We basically try to figure out what happened and if it’s a mechanical issue, that it doesn’t happen to another aircraft, if it’s pilot issue, that they’re retrained correctly and if it’s a fluke accident, we will try to figure out what happened so it doesn’t happen again,” said FAA Aviation Safety Inspector Philip Kingston.
Stow officials said no one was home at the house close to the crash site when the plane came down.
While the plane itself did not hit the house, officials said it knocked down a tree, which grazed the structure.
Neighbors previously described the moment of impact, recalling the sound of a plane flying low overhead before a loud bang shook the otherwise quiet neighborhood.
The neighborhood where the plane crashed is close to Minute Man Airfield, where officials said the plane had taken off.
The wreckage of the plane remained in place at the crash site as of Monday afternoon.
It could take up to two years for investigators to release their report on what caused the plane to crash.
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