[2] After leaving the US Army as a sergeant in the mid-1950s and using his Veterans Administration educational benefits to pay for flight lessons, Stenger received his commercial pilot's license and later started the company.
In 1968, after Northeast Airlines began its merger with Delta Air Lines, the new organization applied to the Civil Aeronautics Board to discontinue service on the Boston to Rockland route.
It remained family owned and operated through June 1, 2007 when it was acquired by Rockland Airport Partners (RAP), LLC (a division of Jordache Enterprises, doing business as Maine Atlantic Aviation (MAA).
[4] On May 30, 1979, Downeast Airlines Flight 46 that originated in Boston crashed into a heavily wooded area about 1.2 miles south-southwest of the Knox county Regional Airport in Rockland.
Although the Safety Board was unable to determine conclusively the reason(s) for the flightcrew's deviation from standard instrument approach procedures, it is believed that inordinate management pressures, the first officer's marginal instrument proficiency, the captain's inadequate supervision of the flight, inadequate crew training and procedures, and the captain's chronic fatigue were all factors in the accident.
Years ago our assessment of corporate culture focused primarily on whether management actively discouraged their operators -- in aviation, that would be pilots -- from following the established company and government rules and procedures.
For example, on May 30, 1979, a DeHavilland Twin Otter, operated by Downeast Airlines, a regularly scheduled commuter flight from Boston, crashed near Rockland, Maine, while the pilot was attempting to land in restricted visual conditions.