Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating a crash involving a small private plane at the Portland International Jetport that injured two people Friday.
An airport official previously said he believes the plane, a Cessna 172, was taking off when it caught fire and “broke apart” just before 4 p.m. Two people were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The NTSB is investigating the crash and is expected to publish a preliminary report 15 days after the event, Jennifer Gabris, a public affairs officer, said in an email Saturday.
The federal agency is charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident that takes place in the United States, according to its website, and preliminary reports typically contain information collected from the scene.
The small plane that crashed at the Portland Jetport, injuring two, remained on the runway two hours after the incident on Friday. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer
“At this early stage of an investigation, NTSB does not state a cause,” Gabris said. “Investigations currently take between 12 and 24 months to complete.”
The NTSB does not release the names of individuals in accidents it investigates, Gabris said.
Officials with the city of Portland said no new information, including the names of the two people who were injured, was available Saturday.
News Center Maine reported Friday that the registration number on the plane’s tail was N9946Q. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane with that registration number belongs to Horizon Aviation LLC in Sinclair, in Aroostook County. Attempts to reach Horizon Aviation Saturday were unsuccessful.
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