The pilot of a single-engine plane was in contact with radio control towers Saturday just before he crashed into a Baltimore County lawn, killing himself and two others, an investigator said Monday.
Standing just outside yellow police tape around the lawn of a home off Country Club Lane in Jacksonville, Inspector Todd Gunther of the National Transportation Safety Board said he has reports that the pilot contacted air traffic controllers before the crash. Determining the cause could take months, Gunther said.
Crews scoured the lawn just off the Hillendale Country Club golf course for debris Monday and prepared to move what was left of a mangled cabin into a secure hangar for further investigation.
The plane?s impact came within feet of the home owned by Ed Bromwell, splattering mud, said his son, Todd Bromwell. The six-seat plane was a Piper Saratoga, the same model as the plane John Kennedy Jr. flew in his fatal 1999 crash.
“Everyone keeps saying that we?re so lucky,” Bromwell said. “It?s unfortunate we can?t say the same for them.”
Theodore Ryder, 45, Paul Sorensen and Timothy Conner, both 48, died in the crash. All three men were from Joppa. Ryder was believed to be the pilot.
Officials said the men were traveling to Tennessee to attend a NASCAR event.
