were lifted from the crash scene by helicopters and taken to the Green in the center of the Dartmouth College campus, where fire engines and other vehicles lighted the grassy area for an emergency landing pad. The plane carried 39 passengers and three crew members, Northeast said. The military authorities participating in the rescue operation said that bad weather had complicated matters. It was raining at the crash scene, with snow at higher altitudes, and freezing temperatures were expected. Persons at the scene said that the plane had crashed on the north side of the mountain about from the top. Heavy woods and ledges forced rescue workers to hike to the wreckage. Helicopters not only brought out the injured, but also ferried in doctors while a bulldozer struggled to clear a path to the plane. Newsmen attempting to reach the scene of the crash on Moose Mountain were blocked at the base by the New Hampshire State Police. Only the police, firemen and other rescue workers were allowed up the mountain. The passengers who survived the crash were at the rear of the plane and were able to escape the wreckage through the rear emergency exit or through the fractures in the fuselage. Aftermath During its investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board reported that the plane was flying below its required altitude. It is unclear why the pilots made the decision to fly at the low altitude, because both the black box and the flight data recorder were badly damaged in the crash. However, the NTSB suggested in its finding in 1970 that the pilots misjudged their altitude position during approach and there were no navigational aids in the aircraft or near the airport. Officials at the New Hampshire Aeronautics Commission charged that the FAA had ignored repeated warnings about installing an ILS navigational approach at Lebanon Municipal Airport and that installing such system might have prevented the crash. The crash affected the struggling Northeast Airlines, as it was the fifth airline crash in its 25-year history. At the time of the crash, the airline had lost four planes and 38 passengers and crew. The airline would continue to operate independently until its merger with Delta Air Lines in the 1970s. The president of National Life held a memorial for its employees who died in the crash. See also List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft References External links