CAPE ELIZABETH — A family doctor from
Durham was killed Sunday afternoon after his small plane crashed into the water
near Portland Head Light at Fort Williams Park.
The man, identified as Dr. Louis Hanson, 66, took off alone from Twitchell airport in Turner, apparently with plans to take aerial pictures of the historic lighthouse, said Cape Elizabeth Police Chief Neil Williams on Monday.
“We know from his wife and from Twitchell’s that he was alone, but an extensive search was launched at the time, before that was known, because the plane was reported as a four-seater,” said Williams.
Williams said it’s unclear what caused Hanson’s 1967 Stinson Voyager to go down. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration have taken the lead on the investigation, he said.
Neither returned requests for information by press time.
According to eyewitness reports, Hanson survived the initial impact, and began to swim to shore but quickly lost strength. He was pulled aboard what Williams described as a “civilian pleasure boat” that was the first craft on scene, and then transferred to a Sea Tow vessel where CPR was initiated. He never regained consciousness.
No cause of death was known on Monday. The place remained in the water just off the rocks of Fort Williams Park.
“As I understand it, there is nothing leaking from the plane and, that being the case, it will up to the insurance company to decide when and how to remove it from the water,” said Williams.
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