The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating after a plane carrying three people crashed during takeoff from the Vinalhaven airstrip on Friday evening.
The passengers were an emergency patient, an emergency medical technician and the pilot. They escaped without serious injuries, and the patient was eventually transported to the hospital as needed.
Rescue crews respond to the plane crash Friday evening on Vinalhaven. Photo courtesy Vinalhaven Fire Department
The single-engine Cessna 207 crashed around 5 p.m.
Vinalhaven Fire and EMS personnel and a Knox County sheriff’s deputy were on the scene from having transported the patient and, along with bystanders, quickly assisted the two passengers and pilot.
Additional fire and EMS personnel were requested and arrived shortly thereafter. The fire personnel secured the scene and minimized any leaks from the plane’s fuel tank. EMS personnel assessed the pilot and the Vinalhaven EMT involved in the crash and they were released with minor injuries.
Penobscot Island Air transported another medic from South Thomaston’s ambulance service to assist on the scene. By 7 p.m, they were able to transport the original patient and the medic to the Knox County Regional Airport in Owls Head, where the patient was then taken to a hospital.
An investigation into the cause of the crash is underway and no other details about the crash were available Friday or Saturday. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Saturday that the NTSB will be in charge of the investigation but did not provide any new information about what happened.
Vinalhaven Fire Chief Marc Candage was on scene from the original EMS call.
“We are grateful that the patient, our crew member, and the pilot are OK following this accident,” Candage said. “At the end of the day, responding crew and bystanders acted quickly, we treated those involved, and we were able to see our patient get transported to definitive care.”
Portland Press Herald Staff Writer Megan Gray contributed to this report.
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