"If I wasn't wearing a helmet and wearing a seat belt. ... That and luck, I guess, saved me," Dean said. "I had a total feeling of disbelief the entire time."
Dean was flown to the Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly. The southbound lanes of the parkway were closed for hours. Lori Dean said it took her two hours to get to the hospital because of the backup.
The cause of the crash is unknown. Investigations by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board typically take months to complete. The footage from the video camera was turned over to the FAA.
The blood-stained cockpit and the battered wings rest among dead leaves in the hangar, where the scent of gasoline hangs in the air. The engine was the only salvageable part.
The couple returned to the crash site a few days after the accident and found the knife, his glasses and the keys, which they plan to keep as memorabilia in a case at their home.
`Attachment'
Dean said he won't be building another plane because of the deep "emotional attachment" that develops. He likened the experience to a Jeep he customized in high school that was totaled after another driver crashed into it.
"You don't want to put your soul into something and have it happen again," he said.
His wife has encouraged him to continue pursuing his passion.
"I know how much he loves to fly, and I would hate for him not to be able to do something he loves so much," she said.
But Dean is unsure whether he will fly again. Even though his only physical scar is a faint red mark on his nose, his love of flying has been battered.
"Right now, my dream has been crushed," he said. "I don't know if my disappointment's going to stop me, or my fear of flying."
In an attempt to focus on something else, Dean has begun to poke around about planes for sale.
"But it's not going to happen for a long time," he said.
tyeesha.dixon@baltsun.com
