Veteran air traffic controller from Portland among 2 killed in Maine plane crash

Controller among 2 killed in Maine plane crash

WASHINGTON — Officials say one of two men killed in a small plane crash near Portland International Jetport in Maine was a veteran air traffic controller who spent his entire FAA career at the airfield.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association says it’s mourning the death of 42-year-old Mark Haskell, of Brunswick, Maine, a controller at Portland for 19 years.

The NATCA said in a statement Sunday that Haskell’s death left anyone who knew him shocked and saddened.

Haskell and 66-year-old Thomas Casagrande died Saturday when Haskell’s plane crashed in South Portland shortly after taking off from the jetport. Officials are investigating what caused the crash of Haskell’s Yak-52, a Russian-made plane introduced in the 1970s for aeronautic training.