"A beautiful flight up." That's how John Murphy described the flight with his adult son Josiah and daughter departing from Martin State Airport in Maryland en route to Southern Vermont. The plan was to take their skis and hit the slopes at the Killington Resort,

Most of the recent reported flight accidents and crashes are related to small aircraft, including ones in Arizona and Texas, however, an American Airlines regional jet collided with a Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. in late January, killing all 67 people onboard.

While trying to hit the slopes in Vermont, John Murphy and his family were met with a tragedy that almost cost them their lives.