Small Plane Crash In Bowie Sends 3 To The Hospital
BOWIE, Md. (WJZ) -- Federal investigators are on the ground in Bowie, where a plane crashed on the side of the road. All three people inside were badly hurt; two were flown to Shock Trauma.
Kai Jackson has first-hand accounts of the crash.
The plane crash caught everyone off guard, but once it happened, there was a swift response to help the victims.
The tail of the small single-engine plane is visible as it sits next to westbound Rt. 50, a catastrophic end to a flight that lasted only seconds near Bowie in Prince George's County.
"I'm still shocked. I mean, I understand that we're right next to an airport. Things can happen but you never really expect that to happen until it does," said Chi Chi Francis.
The Prince George's County Fire Department says the plane is made by a Texas company called Mooney.
The accident happened about 3:40 p.m. Monday. Officials say the plane took off from the Freeway Airport right across the highway when something went wrong.
"There was a man in the back, a guy flying the plane and a female next to him and she was bleeding," said a witness. "I want to say the cut had to be all the way across her forehead."
Two men--the pilot and a passenger--were flown to Shock Trauma in critical condition. A female passenger was flown to Prince George's Hospital in serious condition.
"One of the witnesses that first treated the patients was a pilot from that airport who ran across all lanes of traffic and was one of the first on the scene to treat all three patients," said Assistant Chief Alicia Francis.
Prince George's County fire officials say the plane, which seats four, was fully fueled when it crashed at the edge of the road.
Traffic came to a crawl on westbound Rt. 50 as travelers headed home on Labor Day.
The FAA arrived to begin its investigation.
"We're just fortunate, according to the witnesses, that there was no travel in this lane that we're standing in," Francis said.
The crash shut down the road in both directions for a while. No one on the ground was hurt.
