A 9-year-old Vassalboro videographer became an overnight worldwide internet sensation with spectacular footage he took of a fatal Bangor plane crash.
Jaxon Cook, an aspiring pilot who his mother said loves planes, was shooting video Friday of a single-engine Cessna at Bangor International Airport.
Within seconds of the start of the video viewers can see that it becomes clear to Jaxon that the cartwheeling plane is about to crash land.
“Oh no, oh shoot, it crashed, oh shoot, oh no,” Jaxon can be heard exclaiming on the 48-second harrowing video.
The plane can be seen taxiing on the runway, then just before hitting the tree line it quickly reverses course, goes sideways into the air, cartwheels and slams nose first into the ground.
Authorities said the pilot, who was the only person on board, died instantly In what was an aborted landing that became a failed attempt at a go-around.
Just before the crash, the pilot had requested current wind information from the Bangor tower.
Jaxon and his mother, Kristie Babb, had gone to the airport to watch planes landing. Babb said her son loves planes and wants to fly for The Blue Angels, a demonstration squadron of the United States Navy.
He’d hoped to see the fighter jets from the nearby military base but instead he ended up capturing exclusive video of a crash.
Jaxon had seen plane crashes on video before but it was scary and intense to for him to see it in person, Babb explained.
Everyone is still in shock, she said.
“To see it with your own eyes, it sets you back a little bit,” Babb said. “It’s crazy.”
Jaxon was very emotional after filming, having found the experience a shock to his system. But he said he’s still focused on his dream of being a pilot some day.
“Still can’t believe Jaxon got this on camera and that it happened in front of our eyes,” his mom said.
The 1982 Cessna A185F Skywagon, tail number N714HE, was registered to a company in the United Kingdom, Southern Aircraft Consultancy, according to FAA records.
FlightAware.com showed that the plane was flying to Bangor from Goose Bay Airport in Canada when it crashed on landing.
Southern Aircraft Consultancy says it “enables non-U.S. citizens to legally register their aircraft on the American ‘N’ register.”
