3 dead in mid-air collision in Frederick, MD
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The parachute you are seeing in the photo near the bottom of this page is from the airplane. This looks like another save for the Cirrus SR-22 CAPS (Cirrus Airframe Parachute System).
Maryland State Police are on the scene of a mid-air collision between a small plane and a helicopter in Frederick County.
Three people are confirmed dead and two others are being transported to the hospital.
The crash happened just after 3:40 p.m. on Thursday near the Frederick Municipal Airport.
Denise Pouget, fire chief in Frederick County, says the police and NTSB are investigating the incident, “It’s going to be a very lengthy process for them to compile the facts of what happened here.”
Witnesses reported seeing a parachute coming from the plane.
The FAA has released the following statement:
According to preliminary information, a Cirrus SR 22 aircraft and an R44 helicopter collided in mid-air near the southwest corner of Frederick Municipal Airport in Maryland at about 3:40 p.m. today. The SR22 was inbound to the airport and the helicopter was involved in a training exercise when the accident occurred. The FAA and the NTSB will investigate.
Julie Zauzmer, John Woodrow Cox & Clarence Williams,The Washington Post:
Two more people were injured and were taken to the trauma center at Meritus Health in Hagerstown, Frederick fire department Capt. Kevin Fox said. Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley said that both were riding on the plane, and that their injuries did not appear to be severe.
Joelle Butler, a Meritus Health spokeswoman, said at 5:30 p.m., about two hours after the crash, that doctors were still evaluating the two patients to determine their condition.
The two aircraft were identified by Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown as a 2006 Cirrus SR22, which is a four-seat plane equipped with a parachute that can be deployed to land it, and an R44 helicopter manufactured by the Robinson Helicopter Co.
The crash was reported around 3:40 p.m. at Monocacy Boulevard and Bucheimer Road just north of Interstate 70 in Frederick, Maryland. The site is less than a mile from the Frederick Municipal Airport.
Two people have been hospitalized with unknown injuries.
According to FAA records, the airplane involved is owned by Graeves Auto & Appliance Inc. in Olney, Maryland. The company’s website says it’s a family-owned business in operation since 1952.
#BREAKING: 2 aircraft crash near Frederick, Md. http://t.co/NvBfZk2bor PHOTO from scene pic.twitter.com/gFZ3zDflAe — wusa9 (@wusa9) October 23, 2014
