The crash of a single-engine plane that killed one person on Friday was apparently the first fatal crash involving a civilian in the history of Bangor International Airport.
Two members of the Maine Air National Guard previously died there when a F101 crashed in 1971, according to Bangor Daily News archives. The victims in that crash were Major James Edward Ashley of Woodland and Captain Christopher Hopkins Glenn of Skowhegan.
Aimee Thibodeau, an airport spokesperson, said that it’s important to note that Friday’s crash happened outside the airport’s fence.
A 48-second video of the crash on Friday taken by a 9-year-old Jaxon Cook, of Vassalboro, shows the plane landing at the airport before ascending again in an arcing path and crashing.
The airport closed the runway after the early afternoon crash, as is standard procedure, Thibodeau said. The runway was reopened shortly before 4:30 p.m.
BDN writer Marie Weidmayer contributed reporting.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated that the crash on Friday was the first fatal plane crash ever at the Bangor airport.