July 26, 2001|By Richard Irwin and Laura Barnhardt | Richard Irwin and Laura Barnhardt,SUN STAFF
A pilot and a student-pilot escaped injury yesterday evening when their plane crashed into trees at Tipton Airport near Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County, a county Fire Department spokesman said.
Division Chief John M. Scholz said the two occupants of a four-seat propeller-driven private plane were executing touch-and-go maneuvers at the airfield about 7 p.m. They were above a tree line west of the airfield not far from the Patuxent River when the plane apparently lost power for an unknown reason and crashed into the trees.
The plane's altitude when it began to descend, the type of plane, model or number of engines were not immediately known, Scholz said.
Scholz said the pilot and the student-pilot, whose identities were not available, walked away from the wreck uninjured and declined medical attention from members of Fort Meade Crash Station No. 45 at the airfield.
He said no other county fire stations were dispatched, indicating the plane apparently did not burn when it hit the trees or the ground.
Scholz said the airfield, near Patuxent Freeway and Laurel Road in the Fort Meade area, is county-owned and is a popular facility for private pilots and their students. The crash is being investigated by state and federal aviation authorities, Scholz said.
