WESTMORE — A massive search involving more than a dozen agencies was launched Monday afternoon on Mount Pisgah after an automated cellphone alert indicated a possible airplane crash, but the search was called off about three hours later when the phone’s owner contacted police and said no crash had occurred.
The Vermont State Police received the automatic emergency alert at about 1 p.m. indicating a possible plane crash involving multiple occupants on Mount Pisgah in Westmore.
Numerous agencies mobilized, including the Vermont State Police, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department, the Vermont Division of Fire Safety, Glover Ambulance Service, the Westmore Fire Department, the Charleston Fire Department and Newport Ambulance Service.
The National Guard also responded and conducted an aerial search of the heavily wooded area surrounding the mountain.
State police and the Division of Fire Safety deployed drones to assist the search. Troopers, game wardens, sheriff’s deputies and EMS personnel searched the terrain on foot.
During the search, police identified the owner of the cellphone that generated the alert but were unable to reach them. After about three hours, the owner contacted state police and said they had not been involved in a crash but had been hiking trails on the mountain.
No evidence of a downed aircraft or injured parties was found, and the search was concluded.
Police said the cellphone owner never lost possession of the device, and it remains unclear what triggered the automated alert.
