What happened
On the morning of the accident, Northeast Airlines Flight 792 was conducting a multi-leg journey starting in Boston, Massachusetts. The scheduled route included stops in Concord and Laconia, New Hampshire, before reaching its final destination in Berlin, New Hampshire. After completing the initial segments without incident, the aircraft departed Laconia at 10:39 under Visual Flight Rules (VFR). Shortly after takeoff, the crew requested and received an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) clearance from the Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center to proceed toward Berlin at an altitude of 8,000 feet.
Prior to arrival, the flight crew contacted the Berlin station at 11:03 to request local weather information. The ground agent provided observations regarding light snow showers and a ceiling of approximately 3,000 feet. A subsequent weather update sent at 11:10 reported deteriorating conditions, with visibility dropping to 2.5 miles and a lower cloud ceiling. While the crew acknowledged this transmission around 11:14, no further communication was established. The aircraft failed to report its position at North Conway, a mandatory reporting point located halfway between Laconia and Berlin.
By 11:28, ground personnel attempted to contact the flight via telephone but received no response. Despite an additional weather update sent at 11:30 suggesting a return to Laconia due to visibility falling below airport minimums, the aircraft did not respond. It was later determined that the impact had already occurred.
Findings
Investigations into the crash of the aircraft revealed that the pilot initiated a descent that deviated from the approved instrument approach procedure for Berlin. The investigation concluded that the crew performed a premature and unauthorized instrument descent to an altitude that was insufficient to maintain clearance from the surrounding terrain, resulting in the aircraft striking a hill.