LITCHFIELD — A twin-engine cargo plane crashed in Litchfield with two people aboard and emergency personnel on the scene Tuesday night said that body parts were found in the wreckage.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash and told News Center Maine that two people were on board when the twin-engine Beechcraft BE99 went down in a field near Buker Pond around 5:45 p.m. Emergency responders, who didn’t want to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media, said that body parts were found within the plane’s wreckage.
There was no official confirmation of fatalities from the agencies investigating the crash as of late Tuesday.
An FAA spokesman referred queries about the identities and condition of the plane’s occupants to local authorities. Kennebec County Sheriff Ken Mason said no information would be released Tuesday night.
The BE99 is a twin-engine turboprop with a seating capacity for up to 17 passengers. The emergency responders said the plane was operated by Wiggins Airways. Wiggins is an all-cargo airline with operations in 12 Northeastern and Southeastern states with bases located as far north as Presque Isle and as far west as Pittsburgh, according to its website. Wiggins provides feeder services for major cargo carriers FedEx and UPS.
Messages left with Lt. Chris Read of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Department were not returned Tuesday night. A dispatcher for the regional communications center said Read was the only person authorized to release information about the crash or the persons on board the plane when it went down.
Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said Maine State Police responded and were assisting the sheriff’s office with the crash scene investigation, but she referred all questions to the sheriff’s office.
#UPDATE: @FAANews now confirms TWO people were on board the plane at the time of the crash. Right now we don't know their conditions. @NEWSCENTERmaine
— Zach Blanchard (@ZachBlanchard) August 23, 2023
WMTW-TV reported that a dispatcher for the New England branch of the FAA said that the plane took off from the Auburn-Lewiston municipal airport at 2 p.m., apparently bound for a privately owned runway in the Androscoggin County town of Wales.
As is the case in most plane crashes, the NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates. The FAA will post a preliminary incident report on its website, usually on the next business day. Once investigators verify the aircraft’s registration number it can be searched online.
The crash took place near Buker Pond in Litchfield. Authorities closed Buker and Oak Hill roads in Litchfield while fire crews rushed to the crash site. People at the Meadows Golf Course reported hearing a crash around 5:44 p.m.
Gardiner, Monmouth and Litchfield fire departments were searching an area off Oak Hill Road that is a mix of woods, waters and field.
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