The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report following a deadly plane crash in Litchfield.
The crash on Aug. 22 killed pilot 69-year-old James Shepherd-Kegl of North Yarmouth and student pilot 37-year-old Jumaane Omar Stanley Melville of St. Petersburg, Florida.
After the Beech C99 plane, owned by Wiggins Airways, a cargo flight company based in Manchester, New Hampshire, took off from the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport around 5:10 p.m., it performed a missed approach and began heading to the northeast.
The plane then entered a holding pattern at 3,000 feet. It then made a turn and entered a “steep descent” before crashing about 5:45 p.m. about a half mile from Wales Airport in Litchfield.
The debris field was approximately 200 yards long and 50 feet wide.
The plane was being used in a training capacity with Shepherd-Kegl instructing Melville at the time of the crash.
Investigators continue to work to find out what happened, and a full report isn’t expected for another 12 to 24 months.
Judy Shepherd-Kegl said her husband took flight safety very seriously, and she’s hoping for more answers. They had been married for 44 years. He left behind three children and grandchildren.