William Hamilton, 73, of Damariscotta, suffered minor injuries Aug. 29 after his Cessna 120 crash landed next to Rt. 73 near the Knox County Regional Airport in South Thomaston, along the Owls Head town line.
According to Maine State Trooper Patrick Hood, the lead investigator for the incident, Hamilton was transported to Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport where he was treated for a broken arm and cuts to his head. Hamilton was eventually released and has returned home.
“I feel like I got beat up,” said Hamilton.
According to Hamilton, his plane wasn’t getting enough power as he tried to gain altitude. As he was turning back he clipped a tree, forcing the plane down.
“It didn’t have the power,” he said.
Hamilton speculated that the plane’s failure to gain power could have been due to contaminated gasoline, faulty electronics, or even human error.
“It happened so fast,” he said. “You don’t have time think about it.”
Hamilton said he was extremely grateful to Hood and all those who helped him out of his plane after the crash. The Owls Head Fire Department, Rockland Fire and EMS, and South Thomaston Fire and Ambulance responded to the accident.
According to Hamilton, the plane he was flying was a Cessna single- engine aircraft that he had bought and restored himself over the past few years.
Hamilton, a pilot of 11 years, began flying in New Jersey. He has since flown up and down the Maine coast. Stating that flying in Maine is more difficult, because there are few or no air-traffic control towers, Hamilton said the views are unparalleled.
“There is nothing like flying in Maine,” he said.
Though the crash has not turned Hamilton off flying, he plans on flying commercially in two weeks, he doesn’t think he’ll be going up alone anytime soon.
“Common sense would tell me that this is a cut in the hobby,” said Hamilton.
