Two people killed in Maine plane crash identified by authorities

The two people who died in a plane crash during a training flight near a small airport in central Maine earlier this week have been identified by authorities.

News Center Maine reports James Shepherd-Kegal, 69, of North Yarmouth, was identified as the instructing pilot, and Jumaane Omar Stanley Melville, 37, of St. Petersburg, Florida, as the student pilot, according to a press release issued Thursday by the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office. They were the only two people on board the plane.

The twin-engine Beechcraft cargo plane crashed in a field in the town of Litchfield at around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation.

The plane crashed “under unknown circumstances" about half a mile from Wales Airport, said Sarah Taylor Sulick, a spokesperson for the NTSB.

The NTSB is still in the early stages of its investigation. The plane was configured for cargo, but it was being used for flight training at the time of the crash, said Ralph Hicks, a senior investigator with the agency.

Hicks said the preliminary investigation was not able to determine which pilot was flying at the time of the crash because the plane was being used for training and flight controls were available to both pilots. There was also no black box on the aircraft, and the pilots were not in contact with air traffic control.

He added that the crash was a "high-energy impact," with an angle of about 25 degrees before it hit the ground, causing a wide debris field of 200 yards. No evidence of a fire in-flight or post-crash was found. The investigation is expected to last several months while the NTSB works to interview witnesses and look into maintenance records and both pilots. 

Litchfield is a small town close to the state capital of Augusta, and is about 50 miles north of Portland, the largest city in Maine.

Wreckage from the crash will be recovered and moved offsite for analysis, Taylor Sulick said, adding that a preliminary report about the crash will likely be available in two to three weeks.

The plane took off at 5:09 p.m. Tuesday from Auburn-Lewiston Airport, about 18 miles from Litchfield, Hicks said. He said there was no cargo on board at the time of the crash and it was undetermined whether the student or the instructor was operating the plane when it crashed.

The plane was operated by Wiggins Airways of Manchester, New Hampshire, Hicks said.

Wiggins Airways' website states that the company is an all-cargo airline with operations in 12 states. It also states that the company “provides time critical feeder services for major express carriers, namely FedEx and UPS.”

Wiggins representatives said in a statement Wednesday that the company is complying with the investigation.

“We are filled with sorrow at the passing of our flight crew members,” Wiggins Airways President Donna Nixon said. “The identities of the pilots will not be released out of respect to their families and friends. Our focus is on supporting their families and our employees through this difficult time.”

This scene is very large and it will take two to three days to attend to it, Kennebec County Sheriff Ken Mason said in a Facebook post.

"As we continue our work on the incident in Litchfield, please be patient with our response time for non-emergency calls for service through out the county," he said. “Please keep the families of the two souls lost in your thoughts.”