Plane crashes at Eastern Regional Airport

Local police and fire departments responded to a report of a small plane that crashed at Eastern Slopes Regional Airport at around noon Wednesday.

According to the Oxford County Regional Communications Center, the two-seater plane crashed just off the runway. The pilot was able to get out of the plane and was seen walking around.

Fryeburg police Lt. Michael McAllister said the pilot, Laurence Ketner of Norway, was not injured. According to McAllister, Ketner said he encountered a crosswind that blew his plane off the runway as he attempted to land.

The airplane received damage to the propeller and wing, McAllister said. He said Ketner was the only occupant.

According to the plane’s tail number, which dispatch radioed to responding emergency personnel, the aircraft is a fixed-wing, single-engine Husky plane owned by Ketner. He is the former owner of Ketner Pharmacy, which closed in 2008.

He is retired from his position as a pharmacist with Walgreen’s Pharmacy, which purchased his business location in Norway.

According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the Husky manufactured in 2010 is one of two planes registered to Ketner. The other is a six-seater Cessna, manufactured in 1977.

According to one of Ketner’s neighbors on Country Club Road, Ketner’s planes are a hobby.