An airplane carrying mail to Vinalhaven crashed into trees Monday morning and the pilot was taken to the hospital.

Knox County Sheriff Donna Dennison said the crash occurred at 7:41 a.m. when the plane operated by Penobscot Island Air crashed into trees at the end of the runway at the Vinalhaven airstrip.

A plane carrying mail was seriously damaged when it crashed into trees on Vinalhaven. Photo courtesy of Knox County Sheriff’s Office

Pilot Ted Weslake was alert and conscious with apparent injuries, she said, but the extent of those injuries were unknown. He was up and walking but could not remember what happened and was flown to the Knox County Regional Airport in Owls Head and then taken by ambulance to Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport.

A hospital spokeswoman said Monday at 11 a.m. that Weslake was being prepared for release from the hospital.

The Federal Aviation Administration was notified, the sheriff said.

The plane is part of the Penobscot Island Air fleet based at the airport in Owls Head.

The plane was heavily damaged, based on photographs taken by the sheriff’s office.

The U.S. Postal Service was contacted by the sheriff’s office and the mail was removed from the plane.

Vinalhaven is 16 miles off the Maine coast in Penobscot Bay.