ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Maryland — A small plane ran crashed in the icy water in Anne Arundel County, Maryland on Monday morning, the Anne Arundel County Fire Department said.
First responders say the crash happened just before 10:30 a.m. in the area of 3000 Stonehenge Drive. The plane went into Beards Creek.
The crash happened near Lee Airport in Edgewater.
One person – the pilot – was on board at the time of the crash. He was recovered safely.
Maryland State Police (MSP) said that the preliminary investigation indicates that moments after the pilot took off from Lee Airport, the engine of his plane began sputtering.
Witnesses told police they heard the sputter, and shortly thereafter, they heard the plane crash into Beards Creek.
MSP said two nearby civilians and a police officer used three kayaks to get across the icy creek to help the pilot. While the plane was sinking, the pilot was able to get out and he stood on the wing.
Once the kayakers were close enough, the pilot was able to hang onto one of them to stay afloat.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police responded to the scene by boat shortly after.
When they arrived, an officer cut through the ice and pulled the pilot safely into the boat and transported him to the nearby Annapolis Landing Marina.
The pilot was evaluated by medics and then transported to Anne Arundel Medical Center with injuries not considered to be life-threatening.
None of the kayakers were injured. The fire department assisted the kayakers with warming after the rescue.
The plane was a Piper Cherokee single-engine plane.
No other information was immediately available.
The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary report on its investigation into a small plane crash that sent two people to the hospital. The plane crashed into a high voltage electrical tower near the Montgomery County Airpark (GAI) on Nov. 27. Two people were pulled from the wreckage, dangling 100 feet in the air, in a daring rescue effort by first responders. The crash knocked out power for thousands of residents in Gaithersburg.