AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci on Monday directed that the U.S. and state flags to be flown at half-staff from Wednesday through Saturday at Lewiston High School.

The half-staff request was made of the governor by Lewiston High School Air Force Junior ROTC cadets, according to the governor’s spokeswoman, Crystal Canney.

Lowering the flags to half-staff is to honor those killed in a plane crash Thursday. The pilot was William Charles Weir, 24, of Auburn. The students were Shannon Fortier, 15, Teisha Loesberg, 16, and Nicholas Babcock, 17. All three students were Lewiston High Junior ROTC cadets participating in a flight-training exercise.

For reasons not yet known, their small plane crashed on the steep and densely forested Barker Mountain, near Sunday River in Newry.

Lewiston High School Principal Gus LeBlanc called lowering the flags to half-staff “a fitting tribute to three dedicated, outstanding ROTC cadets who did so much for the program.”

Funerals for the crash victims will be held separately beginning Wednesday and ending Saturday. The crash remains under investigation.

– Bonnie Washuk