WASHINGTON – A helicopter carrying three people crashed Saturday afternoon near Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
No serious injuries were reported, according to Anne Arundel County Fire Department Capt. Russ Davies. Maryland State Police said the three adults on board were taken to the hospital as precaution.
According to state police, the chopper went down at around 1 p.m. in a wooded area near a stream off Aviation Boulevard, between the MARC station and Old Stoney Run Road. The aircraft caught on fire, which spread to the vegetation in the surrounding region.
The helicopter, a Bell 206 Jet Ranger, was completely destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire, state police said.
Due to the resulting brush fire, all Amtrak service was temporarily put on hold between Baltimore and D.C., but it resumed at around 3:40 p.m., an Amtrak spokeswoman said. Passengers were advised to expect residual delays.
Service on MARC’s Penn Line was delayed due to the crash.
Whitney Kidd, a BWI-Marshall spokeswoman, says the crash happened off airport property and had no impact on flights to or from the airport.
State police identified the aircraft’s occupants as pilot Owen J. Garnett, 42, of Montrose, Pennsylvania; and passengers, Kevin A. Tennis, 29, of Colora, Maryland, and Jordan M. Marsh, 34, of Monkton, Maryland.
The chopper was a private aircraft from Sky River Helicopters in New Jersey. The company was unable to provide further details when reached by phone Saturday.
A spokesman for Baltimore Gas and Electric said in a statement that they performing power line inspections on the utility company’s behalf.
WTOP’s Tiffany Arnold contributed to this report
