Small plane crashes at Martha's Vineyard Airport Saturday. Pilot flown to Boston hospital.

State police are investigating after a small plane crashed near Martha's Vineyard Airport Saturday afternoon.

The plane's two occupants, both Connecticut residents, were hospitalized, though the female passenger was released after an evaluation at Martha's Vineyard Hospital, according to police. The pilot, a 79-year-old man, was flown to a Boston hospital in "serious life-threatening condition."

According to police, the plane, a 2006 Piper Meridian, flew out of Westchester, New York earlier that day. While landing on Martha's Vineyard, around 3:15 p.m., the pilot appeared to have "suffered a medical emergency." The passenger took over the controls in order to land.

The resulting "hard landing," in a grassy area near the runway, caused the plane's wing to break in half, police said.

The State Police at the Oak Bluffs Barracks, State Police Detective Unit for the Cape and Islands District, and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating. The scene at the airport was cleared by Saturday afternoon.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Pilot, passenger hospitalized after Martha's Vineyard plane crash