Preliminary NTSB report provides more details about fatal Maine Warden Service plane crash

AVON, Maine (WMTW) - The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a preliminary report on the plane crash that claimed the life of Maine Game Warden Pilot Joshua Tibbetts.

Tibbetts, 50, died when the Maine Warden Service plane he was piloting crashed in Avon on May 12.

The NTSB preliminary report states the wreckage of the state-owned Cessna A185F airplane was located nose-down on rising terrain in a densely wooded area about 400 yards southwest of Schoolhouse Pond.

Tibbetts was the only person who was on the plane when the crash happened.

According to the preliminary report, the Maine Warden Service reported that the flight originated from a seaplane base on Crystal Lake in Harrison and had flown to Rangeley Lake to load fish for the purpose of stocking Schoolhouse Pond.

The NTSB said the plane was equipped with floats and two fish pods, one mounted on each float, which the pilot could dump electronically from the cockpit. At Rangeley Lake, the plane’s right pod was loaded with about 12 gallons of water and 42 pounds of fish.

Citing preliminary data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the NTSB said the plane departed Rangeley Lake at about 10:30 a.m. and flew southeast for about 21 miles to Schoolhouse Pond. The aircraft then continued about 1.5 miles east of the pond, turned left and flew along the pond’s eastern shore in a southwesterly direction. The final data points showed the airplane was in a right turn about 400 yards southwest of the pond.

The NTSB’s preliminary report states that visibility was 10 miles around the time of the crash with sustained wind speeds of 13 knots and gusts of 25 knots. Click here to read the report.

More about Joshua Tibbetts

Tibbetts began his career with the Maine Warden Service in 2008 and was promoted to game warden pilot in November 2023, according to a past Facebook post from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIFW).

At the time of his promotion, the DIFW said Tibbetts would serve northern Maine and be based out of Eagle Lake. He previously served in the department’s Downeast, Central and Southern Maine districts.

The DIFW said in his role as a pilot, Tibbetts’ specialized aviation work supported search and rescue, law enforcement, fisheries, wildlife conservation and public safety across the state. Before Tibbetts became a game warden pilot, he was part of the Incident Management Team and the search planning and unmanned aerial vehicle program. He also previously served as a drug recognition expert, according to the DIFW.

Tibbetts is survived by his parents, Doug and Barbara Tibbetts; his daughters, Allison and Viviann; his partner, Kim Robash; his sister, Tricia Tibbetts-Clifford; his nephew, Benjamin Clifford; his nieces, Katherine and Margaret Clifford; and his former spouse and the mother of his children, Racquel Heath Tibbetts, according to his obituary.

A celebration of life service in Joshua Tibbetts’ memory was held on May 21 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.