GREENVILLE — Three people died Monday after their plane crashed in a field near the Greenville Municipal Airport, according to police.
The names of the victims and where they are from were not immediately available, said Greenville Police Chief Jeff Pomerleau in a 3 p.m. news conference near the scene.
Pomerleau said his department received a phone call from the Federal Aviation Administration around 10:45 a.m. Monday warning of a plane in distress and possibly headed to the Greenville airport.
“Shortly after, we discovered the crash,” he said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters early Monday afternoon said the FAA will investigate the crash and the National Transportation Safety Board will determine the probable cause of the accident.
The FAA said in a statement that, “An Aerostar AEST aircraft crashed on approach to Greenville Municipal Airport in Greenville, ME about 10:55 a.m. today.”
The aircraft departed from Pembroke Airport in Ontario, Canada, and was heading to Charlottetown Airport on Prince Edward Island. Canada, according to the FAA statement.
Pomerleau said the airport, located near Moosehead Lake, is “relatively active” and much of its traffic comes from charter flights. The plane sustained “significant damage,” according to Pomerleau, who added he did not have information about what the cause of the accident may have been.
Maine State Police, the Maine Warden Service, the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office and Maine Department of Environmental Protection also responded.
Pomerleau said police will be monitoring the scene for the remainder of the day. The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are expected to arrive Tuesday.
Portland Press Herald staff writer Gillian Graham and Kennebec Journal staff writer Jessica Lowell contributed to this report.
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