Pilot killed in N.H. resort crash

By Benjamin Paulin, Globe Correspondent

The pilot was killed when a small plane crashed this afternoon near a New Hampshire resort, a federal aviation official said.

The pilot was the only person aboard the Cessna 177, said Jim Peters, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman. Witnesses told police that the plane clipped a group of trees, then hit another tree before coming to rest in a parking lot of The Margate on Winnipesaukee hotel.

"Apparently it hit a couple of our trees in a property spread out across the street," said Brittany Hamilton, 21, of Laconia, a receptionist at the resort, which is on the Laconia-Gilford town line. "It didn't hit any vehicles or people or buildings."

Peters said there were no reports of injuries on the ground.

He said the crash occurred at about 4:20 p.m. The pilot was taken to a hospital and later died there, Peters said.