The pilot killed when his small airplane crashed at the Bangor International Airport last month appeared to try correcting himself before striking the ground, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday.
Luigi Accusani, 74, an Italian pilot, was flying a single-engine Cessna A185F from Europe and attempted to land in Bangor on Aug. 22 to clear customs, before he was going to continue to his final destination of Rutland, Vermont, according to the report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
Video of the crash taken by a bystander shows the plane briefly touching down before ascending again, sharply turning to the left, then flipping sideways after its left wing hit the ground.
Accusani, who had crossed the Atlantic Ocean at least two other times in small planes, asked the control tower for a wind check on his final approach to the runway and was told it was blowing at 14 knots (16 mph) and gusting up to 19 knots (22 mph), according to the report.
A Federal Aviation Administration employee driving on the airport perimeter saw the plane attempting to land and told investigators the left wing was getting close to the pavement as it was landing. The pilot appeared to have tried to correct himself, but there was a crosswind blowing east, the employee said in the report.
The plane then veered left, struck a path indicator light on the side of the runway and became airborne again before cartwheeling, striking a fence and crashing, according to the report.
Accusani was the only person on board.
He held several Italian flight certificates and had an FAA foreign-based private pilot certificate. When his last FAA second-class medical certificate was issued on May 31, 2024, he had reported a total of 2,200 flight hours.
The National Transportation Safety Board will issue a final report at a later date. The federal safety board tries to complete investigations within one to two years, according to its website.