WYMAN (NEWS CENTER Maine) — A Vermont couple survived a small plane crash Thursday into the side of the Bigelow Mountain Range, a spokesperson for Maine's Public Safety Department said.
Frank Gibney of Colchester, Vermont, told state troopers he was flying his float plane alongside another plane piloted by a friend when he lost visibility because of the weather. He along with passenger Diane Muhr, also from Colchester, crashed into trees around 10:30 a.m., police said.
Gibney's friend alerted the Maine Warden Service's office in nearby Greenville. Games wardens, forest rangers, state troopers, and first responders from Eustis, Kingfield and Carrabassett Valley all responded to the crash site, which happened in Wyman Township just north of Carrabassett Valley.
Police said Gibney and Muhr, both in their 60s, both escaped injury, hiked up the mountain about a half-mile and walked out of the woods along the Appalachian Trail
A Maine Forest Service helicopter helped transport first responders closer to the crash site.
The spokesperson said the couple was flying into the Greenville Seaplane Fly-In, which attracts hundreds of planes to the area.
The FAA plans to send an investigator to the crash site.
