Report: Gust caused Trenton plane crash

TRENTON – An Aug. 9 plane crash at a local airport in which the pilot was injured but two passengers escaped harm has been blamed on a strong gust of wind, according to a federal report.

A report released Friday on the National Transportation Safety Board Web site indicated that the commercial biplane, piloted by Steve Collins of Atlanta, had landed at Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport with all three wheels on the runway when “a strong rear-quartering tailwind” caused the plane to veer to the left. Collins took corrective action, but the plane flipped forward, coming to rest upside down in a grassy area off the left side of the runway, according to the report.

Collins, whose company, Biplane Rides Over Bar Harbor, gives private aerial tours around Mount Desert Island, was returning from a 40-minute flight with two passengers around 10:30 a.m. when the accident occurred.

Local officials said at the time that damage to the biplane appeared to be “significant.”