Pilot, passenger injured in crash of small plane in Passadumkeag

PASSADUMKEAG – Two men were injured Monday when the small plane they were in crashed into a wooded area.

A witness told authorities that a short time before the crash, the single-propeller, two-seat Cessna was flying low and apparently with no power.

The pilot, identified as Cal Weeks, 62, of the Old Town area was trying to land in a field and was close to touching down when the plane hit trees about 50 yards from Route 2, Sgt. Bill Birch of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office said Monday night.

The impact tore off the landing gear and left the plane upright but with its nose to the ground, Birch said.

Weeks suffered lacerations and chest injuries and was taken to Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln where his condition wasn’t immediately known Monday night.

His passenger, Travis Berry, 21, of Glenburn suffered lacerations to his hand and neck but didn’t need to be taken to the hospital, Birch said.

The men and plane were under contract with the Maine Forest Service at the time of the accident, which occurred about 5:30 p.m.

Galen Gordon, owner of the land where the plane crashed, said that before the crash, he had seen the plane flying about 40 feet from the ground, and it didn’t appear the engine was running.

Some fuel spilled at the site, but Birch said the small leak stopped once the plane was tipped off its nose.

Howland firefighters were at the scene Monday night, and an investigator with the Federal Aviation Administration is expected there today.