OLAMON, Maine — The site where a small plane crashed on Monday, killing its pilot, was nearly cleaned up by Thursday afternoon.
Thomas Smith, a hazardous waste specialist with the Bangor office of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, said Thursday that the plane was being removed by crews from Telford Aviation, based at Bangor International Airport. The small Cessna was being dismantled and loaded onto a flatbed for transport to the Telford facility, Smith said.
Contaminated snow and ice were being removed and processed by the Clean Harbors environmental firm, which has facilities in South Portland. Aviation fuel and oil were being separated from the melted snow and ice and disposed of, Smith said. The cleanup was on track to be completed by the end of the day Thursday but could extend into Friday, Smith said.
It is not yet known how much gas and oil may have escaped into the Penobscot River. Two fuel tanks on the plane’s wings are known to have been compromised, Smith said, but a third tank in the fuselage had not yet been recovered from the water where the plane crashed and sank. All three tanks are thought to have been filled just before the crash, Smith said.
Veteran pilot James Beaton, 78, of Wales, Great Britain, took off from BIA on Monday morning on the first leg of a trip to deliver the Cessna Skyhawk to Russia. Shortly after takeoff, he contacted the BIA tower to say his plane was icing up and he would attempt a landing on Old Town’s DeWitt Airfield. He crashed 10 miles short of the small municipal field and died as a result. Beaton’s body was recovered by divers Monday evening.
The accident remains under investigation.
Access to the crash site on Olamon Island, in the Penobscot River above Old Town, has been difficult because of its remote location and the frozen water of the river. The island is owned by the Penobscot Indian Nation. Crews from the Penobscot Indian Nation have assisted in the recovery of the plane and the pilot’s body.
BDN writer Nok-Noi Ricker contributed to this report.
