The National Transportation Safety Board says it could take more than a year to understand why a plane crashed in Litchfield Tuesday night.
The plane left the Lewiston-Auburn airport around 5:09 p.m. and flew southwest before heading northeast toward O'Connell field. It crashed at about 40 minutes later. The pilots' names have not yet been released.
Ralph Hicks of the National Transportation Safety Board said the two pilots were on a training exercise at the time of the crash, according to audio of a Wednesday press conference recorded by the Bangor Daily News. He said there was no sign of a fire but the plane was completely destroyed by the crash.
"The, about 25 degree descent angle when it hit the ground, and it spread out for about 200 yards. So that's it's a fairly extensive wreckage of debris field and it's through the woods also," Hicks said.
Hicks said the pilots were not in contact with air traffic control before the plane crashed. He said investigators be reviewing the plane's maintenance records, the pilots' flight history and any toxicology reports done on the victims over the next few days to better understand what might have happened.
