DOVER-FOXCROFT – The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the circumstances behind a plane crash Saturday that left a local man in critical condition.

Fred Wilson, 78, was piloting an experimental airplane he had assembled when the engine stopped and the plane crashed nose-first into a wooded area near Pine Crest Business Park, according to Dover-Foxcroft Police Chief Dennis Dyer. The park is close to the Chase Memorial Airport.

Despite his extensive injuries, Wilson crawled from the airplane and walked about one quarter to one half mile to the nearest residence, leaving behind a trail of blood, Dyer said.

Homeowner Steve Arno took Wilson to Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft where he was stabilized for an airlift by LifeFlight to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

Dyer said no one in the area apparently heard the 6:30 p.m. crash and police learned of the accident from hospital officials.

Wilson has a long history of flying and in earlier years had been a pilot in the Civil Air Patrol, Dyer said.

Dyer did not know the make of the experimental airplane, but said it was extensively damaged. Both wings and the nose were destroyed, he said.