Chapel Hill Plane Crashes In MD, 6 Killed

A plane that took off Monday morning at 9:30 from Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill fatally crashed near its intended destination in Maryland, killing three members on the flight as well as three residents in one of the homes that were struck.

Robert Sumwalt, a board member for the National Transportation Safety Board, announced on Monday afternoon that the flight was registered to Sage Aviation, of Chapel Hill. Dr. Michael Rosenberg is listed as the primary contact for Sage Aviation, and it has been confirmed that Rosenberg was on the flight. Dr. Rosenberg was the Founder and CEO of Health Decisions, a clinical research organization based in Durham. Two other members of the flight crew died in the crash.

 

Three homes were damaged in the crash, according to Sumwalt. One residence caught fire after a wing of the plane “catapulted” into the home.

Tragedy continued on Monday morning in that fire, as three residents of the home all passed away. Montgomery County Fire Chief Steven Lohr said, “In the course of our work this afternoon, we have confirmed the loss of the three family members, in the house that burned.”

Montgomery County Police Chief J Thomas Manger said the three family members were all found together. “Investigators found three bodies on the second floor of the home,” he said. “It was an adult female and two young children…a three year old and an infant.”

The children were both identified as boys, but their names were not released. The male and another 5-year-old child from that home were accounted for, as of Monday evening, and were not home at the time of the crash.

NTSB Board member Sumwalt says they are in the early stages of their investigation, and added that investigators will be looking at the plane’s engine, as well as speaking with air traffic controllers for additional data. Investigators have also recovered the black boxes from the flight, according to Sumwalt.

More information is expected in the coming days, as more data is made available and details emerge as to the cause of the crash.