GREENVILLE — Three people died Monday when their plane crashed into a field near the Greenville Municipal Airport.

The victims’ names were not immediately available, Greenville Police Chief Jeff Pomerleau said at a 3 p.m. press conference near the scene.

Pomerleau said his department received a phone call from the Federal Aviation Administration at about 10:45 a.m. Monday warning of a plane in distress and possibly headed to the Greenville airport.

“Shortly after, we discovered the crash,” he said.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said early Monday afternoon the FAA will investigate the crash, and the National Transportation Safety Board will determine the probable cause of the accident.

The FAA said in a statement, “An Aerostar AEST aircraft crashed on approach to Greenville Municipal Airport in Greenville, ME, about 10:55 a.m. today.”

The aircraft departed from Pembroke Airport in Ontario, Canada, and was heading to Charlottetown Airport on Prince Edward Island. Canada, according to the FAA statement.

Pomerleau said the airport, near Moosehead Lake, is “relatively active,” and much of its traffic comes from charter flights.

The plane sustained “significant damage,” according to Pomerleau, who added he did not have information on the cause of the accident.

Maine State Police, the Maine Warden Service, the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office and Maine Department of Environmental Protection also responded.

Pomerleau said police would monitor the crash scene for the remainder of the day. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are expected to arrive Tuesday.

Portland Press Herald staff writer Gillian Graham and Kennebec Journal staff writer Jessica Lowell contributed to this report.

Greenville Police Chief Jeff Pomerleau, left, and Maine State Police Cpl. Adam Coover speak to the news media outside the Greenville Municipal Airport about an airplane crash that killed three people Monday. (David Leaming/Morning Sentinel)

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