Victims in deadly Hancock County plane crash have been identified

The two people killed in a plane crash in Trenton on Thursday have been identified.

Michael Leibowitz, 71, of Charleston, South Carolina, was piloting the fixed-wing single-engine Cirrus SR22 with a passenger, 57-year-old Christina Chung of Livingston, New Jersey, according to Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Leibowitz and Chung took off from Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey earlier in the day and were approaching Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport in Trenton about 12:25 p.m. when they crashed.

The plane caught fire on impact and was destroyed, Moss said.

They both died in the crash.

Sam Wilson, who works at a business near the airport, told the Bangor Daily News on Thursday that he witnessed the crash. The weather was foggy at the time, and Wilson heard an approaching plane and saw what appeared to be an upside down aircraft heading toward the runway and then veer to the east and crash into the grass.

“It was instantly on fire,” he said. “There was an explosion, and then a few pops, and then another explosion. Clouds of black smoke were blowing across the runway.”

Flights were not allowed to take off or land at the airport Thursday afternoon, but the runway was reopened shortly after 5 p.m., according to Leroy Muise, the airport manager. The wreckage remained secured at the crash site Thursday.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

The plane, manufactured in 2023, is registered to Miller High Life Aviation LLC out of Charleston, South Carolina, according to FAA records.

BDN writer Bill Trotter contributed to this report.