Low altitude caused 2002 Saddleback crash

BROWNVILLE – The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled that the probable cause of an airplane crash that killed a Norridgewock man Oct. 11, 2002, was his failure to maintain sufficient altitude while flying in mountainous terrain at night.

Guy Charles Perkins Jr., 53, died when his Cessna 182S crashed into the 2,630-foot high Saddleback Mountain at the 2,575-foot level, according to the report filed Sept. 30, 2003.

A factor in the crash was the night lighting conditions, according to investigators.

Perkins’ body was burned beyond recognition and was carried by search teams about a mile off the mountain and through the woods in an isolated section of Piscataquis County to a woods road and then to a main road in Katahdin Iron Works.

A flight instructor for Keene Regional Airport in Swanzey, N.H., Perkins had dropped off a flight student in Caribou and was returning to his Norridgewock home when he crashed the airplane about 40 minutes after departure.

The crash occurred at about 8:30 p.m. that Friday but wasn’t reported until Saturday, when the pilot’s wife became concerned about her overdue husband.

According to the report, the flight student expressed his concern about the marginal weather conditions, and he reportedly told Perkins to watch out for Mount Katahdin, 5,268 feet high, which was along the flight route.

The student pilot told authorities he was concerned because he knew Perkins liked to fly at lower altitudes, between 2,000 and 3,000 feet.