Courtesy of the Maine Department of Public Safety. A LifeFlight helicopter and two ambulances from North East Mobile Health Services respond to a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 295 southbound in Bowdoinham today that left a Westbrook man in critical condition.

BOWDOINHAM — A Westbrook man was flown by helicopter to Central Maine Medical Center this afternoon where he was listed in critical condition after the van he was driving south on Interstate 295 spun out of control, launching him from the passenger-side after the door was ripped open.

Suffering multiple injuries in the single-vehicle crash was Larry Huff, 67, of Westbrook, according to a press release issued by Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. A passenger, 31-year-old Haze McDougal of  Portland, was wearing his seat belt, according to McCausland, was not ejected and suffered only minor injuries.

The crash was reported at 12:17 p.m. on I-295 southbound near mile 36. Maine State Trooper Christopher Rogers said Huff was driving in the right-hand lane, started to turn into the passing lane but cut back into the right lane when he realized there was already a vehicle there. During this maneuver the van entered the breakdown lane, Rogers said, so Huff cut the wheel hard to the left, started to lose control and overcorrected —causing the van to spin counter-clockwise. The van, facing northbound now in the southbound lane, moved backwards into the guardrail, at which time the passenger-side door got caught in the guardrail, causing the door to get peeled wide open. The impact with the guardrail jarred Huff from the drivers seat and partially onto the passenger seat. As the vehicle did one more quick spin with the door open, Huff was ejected out the passenger side.

Rogers said Huff landed on pavement and slid into the grass alongside the road, resulting in road rash on his body. Huff was not wearing a seat belt and if he had been, Rogers said he his injuries likely would have been far less serious. Rogers said Huff is a longtime volunteer driver for the Regional Transportation Program out of Portland.

The crash was initially reported as a rollover, Rogers said, but the Chevrolet van instead spun 360 degrees with no indication it ever rolled despite the insistence by eye witnesses that it did. Although Rogers was told Huff was not initially conscious, he was breathing and when Rogers arrived, he was able to talk briefly to Huff, who had no recollection of what had happened.

Rogers said charges could be pending.