Two killed in small plane crash in Maine

February 1, 2008 11:04 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Jillian Jorgensen, Globe Correspondent

Two people were killed in a small plane crash in Maine this evening, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Cessna 525, a twin engine turbo-fan aircraft, crashed with two passengers aboard in a rural area of West Gardiner just after taking off from the Augusta State Airport at around 5:40 p.m., according to FAA spokesman Jim Peters.

The victims were being identified by local authorities last night, Peters said, but the aircraft was registered to Jeanette Symons of San Francisco.

The plane, bound for Lincoln, Neb., was in contact with a controller at the Portland, Maine, jetport when the pilot declared an emergency about 5 minutes after taking off, at an altitude of 3,000 feet, ascending to 10,000 feet. The controller asked if the pilot needed help returning to Augusta, but the plane then began a rapid descent and radar contact and radio communications were lost, Peters said.

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine State Police, said that there was a fire at the scene of the crash, about a mile into the woods from the nearest road, when searchers arrived.

McCausland said there was freezing rain and snow at the time of the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board was due on the scene to investigate tomorrow morning, Peters said.

"NTSB considers everything when it goes through these scenes, so weather, of course, will be part of the investigation," Peters said.