On August 25 , 1985 , Smith and her father were returning home aboard Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 after filming a segment for '' Lime Street '' . While attempting to land at Lewiston-Auburn Regional Airport in Auburn , Maine , the Beechcraft 99 commuter plane struck some trees short of the runway and crashed , killing all six passengers and two crew on board . Much speculation regarding the cause of the accident circulated afterwards . Accusations of foul play circulated widely in the Soviet Union . An investigation was undertaken in the United States and the official report — which did not show evidence of foul play — was made public . As stated in the report , the accident occurred at about 22:05 EDT , the ground impact point located one mile ( 1.6 km ) south-west of the airport , at . The report goes on to say , " The relatively steep flight path angle and the attitude ( the orientation of the aircraft relative to the horizon , direction of motion etc. ) and speed of the airplane at ground impact precluded the occupants from surviving the accident . " The main point of the report was that it was a rainy night , that the pilots operating the aircraft were inexperienced , and an accidental , but not uncommon and not usually critical , ground radar failure occurred
Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808
Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808
Samantha Smith