NTSB continues investigation into fatal plane crash

TOWNSHIP 8, RANGE 10 – Investigators on Tuesday continued combing the wreckage of a seaplane that crashed near a remote pond Sunday, claiming the lives of two passengers and critically injuring another.

A Cessna 206 single-engine seaplane crashed during an attempt to take off from Horseshoe Pond killing West Paris resident Vernon Inman, 77, and fatally injuring Harlan Abbott, 67. Abbott, who also was from West Paris, was badly burned during the crash and died at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts late Sunday due to complications related to his injuries, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Another passenger from West Paris, William Aridas, said to be in his 60s, was seriously injured in the crash and transported to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he is being treated for severe burns. Aridas was listed in critical condition Tuesday afternoon, according to hospital representatives.

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board, who are heading up the investigation, and Federal Aviation Administration investigators were at the scene Tuesday trying to determine the cause of the accident. Bob Gretz, NTSB investigator-in-charge, left Greenville around 1 p.m. Tuesday. Attempts to contact Gretz were unsuccessful.

“If he’s headed back, he’s completed the on-site [investigation], but the investigation is not over,” NTSB air safety investigator Bob Hancock said. “He’s got a lot of work ahead of him.”

The preliminary report, which will be written by Gretz, will be posted on the NTSB Web site within a week, said Hancock. The final report, however, will not be available for another six months or so.

Gretz works out of the NTSB office in Parsippany, N.J.

On Tuesday afternoon, McCausland said there was “nothing new” to report on the plane crash.

The crash scene was located several miles east of Moosehead Lake in an unorganized territory called Bowdoin College Grant West.

Pilot Richard Dill, 32, of Greenville was flying the six-seat seaplane carrying the three West Paris residents when it crashed after apparently trying several times to take off from the pond. McCausland said the plane’s wing clipped some trees, which sent the aircraft crashing to the ground, where it burst into flames.

According to the pilot, the aircraft stalled during takeoff. Dill was flying for Folsom’s Air Service in Greenville at the time of the crash, and managed to walk away from the impact site with only minor injuries. Dill sustained burns on his hands and arms when he pulled Abbott and Aridas from the burning plane, McCausland said. He was treated and released from Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital in Greenville.

Maine State Police received the crash report at 12:41 p.m. Sunday. Six people were flown to a camp on Horseshoe Pond, owned by the Folsom family of Greenville, on Friday and spent the weekend there. On Sunday morning, Dill had picked up and delivered three passengers in the six-person party off the pond. The seaplane went down about a quarter mile from Horseshoe Pond, after Dill had picked up the remaining three men, McCausland said.