Two killed in Va. plane crash
BOWIE, Md. – Two men were killed and a woman was injured Wednesday when their small plane crashed while preparing to land at a suburban airport near Washington, D.C., during a brief snowstorm.
The plane, a single engine Cessna 172 S-Model Skyhawk that had taken off from Warrenton, Va.
BOWIE, Md. – Two men were killed and a woman was injured Wednesday when their small plane crashed while preparing to land at a suburban airport near Washington, D.C., during a brief snowstorm.
The plane, a single engine Cessna 172 S-Model Skyhawk that had taken off from Warrenton, Va., was making its second approach to Freeway Airport using a global positioning system.
Mark Brady, spokesman for the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department, said two men in the front of the plane were killed. Freeway’s chief flight instructor, Marcel Bernard, said a woman in the rear seat suffered serious injuries to her upper body and was later taken to a hospital.
The crash site is about a quarter mile from the runway. Bernard said it was snowing heavily with low clouds when the plane crashed just before 10 a.m.
County officials said visibility in the area, about 18 miles east of Washington, D.C., was between zero and 500 feet at the time with a cloud ceiling of less than 500 feet.
Authorities said the National Transportation Safety Board was sending investigators to the scene.
According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the plane’s registered owner is the Tracey Corp. of Midland, Va. A woman answering the phone at Skyworld Aviation, also known as the Tracey Corp., declined immediate comment.
Freeway Airport handles about 200 takeoffs and landings a day. Small planes often land to refuel or pick up passengers at the facility, which is adjacent to U.S. 50, a major commuter route from the Prince George’s County suburbs to the nation’s capital.
