Officials say cause of fatal accident may never be known
By Terry Karkos
Staff Writer

RUMFORD – Police say they may never know who was piloting the ultralight aircraft that crashed into a tree in South Rumford Thursday night, killing both occupants.

And despite investigating the mangled, brightly colored wreckage Friday morning in the rain with two aviation safety inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration in Portland, officials could not positively determine what caused the wreck.

Killed in the 5:45 p.m. crash were experienced ultralight pilot Steven E. Bernard, 40, of 460 South Rumford Road and Terrie L. Davis, 39, of 95 Maine Ave. Gallant said that Bernard died on impact, but Davis died from her injuries shortly after arriving at Rumford Hospital.

According to the State Medical Examiner’s Office, which performed autopsies Friday morning on the pair, Bernard died from blunt head and neck injuries while Davis was killed by extensive blunt trauma to her body.

Police say they believe the pontoon-equipped ultralight, which had just taken off from the Androscoggin River, was circling the tree to gain altitude when the crash occurred.

“They had just taken off and were only in the air for a minute or two when direct contact was made and they were swung into the tree,” said Rumford Police Detective Lt. Wayne Gallant. “It appears that a wing may have caught on a branch of the 100-foot-tall pine tree about 85 feet above the ground and wound the ultralight into the tree.”

From there, the twin-seat craft plummeted to the ground directly behind the home of Alan Gerace and Claudia Reynolds at 133 Hall Hill Road.

Bernard, who owned the aircraft, was an experienced ultralight pilot, Gallant said.

But investigators couldn’t determine who was piloting it when the wreck happened.

“Steven’s the one who always flew it, but it appears that the ultralight had dual joysticks (like a trainer), so either one could have had access to its operation. We don’t have any indication that she ever did any flying. Steven has had about nine years of experience flying ultralights,” Gallant added.

An ultralight aircraft usually weighs less than 250 pounds and is powered by a small engine. The recreational vehicles do not require pilots to be licensed.

FAA involvement

When advised of the wreck Friday night, the FAA declined to take over the investigation because the aircraft was an ultralight. Because they are not federally regulated, the FAA does not investigate ultralight crashes.

However, the FAA sent safety inspectors Joseph R. Ingalls and John Bell to the scene Friday morning to determine the aircraft’s type.

“Because it was a double fatality, the FAA wanted to make sure it was an ultralight,” Gallant added.

Both FAA investigators determined that it was an ultralight, but neither could say just what type it was, despite examining the long, cylindrical metal fuselage with its open cockpits, dented engine and crumpled and torn wings.

Violent impact

As testimony to the violent impact, one of three black propellers on the aircraft’s engine was sheared off near its rotor blade housing assembly. Several branches on one side of the tree from point of impact to the ground were also severed, littering the crash site.

Metal struts and piping frames for the fabric wings were also sliced apart or dented. Despite Friday’s steady downpour, the air reeked of gasoline. A shattered oar, an upside down yellow helmet filling with rainwater and a right-side up red helmet sat near the wreckage.

Grieving

Resident Claudia Reynolds watched investigators work through the wreckage, but that’s not where her thoughts were.

“I know (Steven’s) parents and, oh my God, I just feel so bad because it’s a terrible thing to lose a son or a daughter,” Reynolds said. The wreck’s “just a horrible thing. These things happen and you have to deal with them, but it’s the relatives you hurt for.”

According to Reynolds, ultralights frequently fly over her yard and Hall Hill.

“We hear them all the time, but never that close to the house. You don’t pay any attention because you hear them all the time. But this (wreck) means you don’t take anything for granted,” she said.

Neighbors and some onlookers at the scene Friday night said the small craft’s engine failed shortly before the crash. However, it was unclear if the engine failure occurred before or after the plane struck the tree.

“The engine cut out. I heard the engine stop, but I really don’t know when it did,” Reynolds added.

At the time of the wreck, she said her husband, Alan, was in the backyard watering the garden while she was inside the house making supper.

“I heard the crack of limbs breaking and went right out there, then my husband said to call 911 and I did,” Reynolds said.

Rumford Sgt. Stacy Carter said Thursday evening’s ultralight crash was the first one in the town to result in fatalities. But both he and Gallant said ultralights have wrecked around Rumford before.

“But this is the first time we’ve had a death. Well, tragically, two deaths,” Gallant added.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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