Plane, copter collide killing 3 injuring 2 after a stop at the Cleveland Regional Jetport

The plane that collided with a helicopter in Maryland was flying home after a stop at the Cleveland Regional Jetport, said Mark Fidler, the director of the jetport. The crash resulted in three deaths, although the two men aboard the plane survived.

He said the men on the plane were not from Tennessee, but they flew between Frederick, Md., and Cleveland, Tenn., on a regular basis.

He also said nothing appeared wrong with the plane when it left Cleveland.

"Nothing out of the norm whatsoever with their ride or departure," Fidler said.

He said the pair had been flying to and from the jetport for about a year, and that they were only in Cleveland for several hours Thursday.

"I recall they were very nice people, and we're sad to see what happened," he said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those involved in this tragic event as well as their families."

The two men aboard the plane were taken by ambulance to Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown, Md., but were being discharged, hospital spokeswoman Joelle Butler said in an email about three hours after the collision.

Three people were found dead in the helicopter wreckage, but it was not immediately clear whether all were on the helicopter, or if someone on the ground was killed, Shipley said.

The airplane and helicopter collided before crashing into a line of trees and a pair of storage units on the ground Thursday afternoon.

The Cirrus SR22 plane was heading to the Frederick Municipal Airport and an R44 helicopter was involved in a training exercise when the collision occurred near the southwest corner of the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The statement said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

The plane went down in a line of trees east of downtown Frederick, while the helicopter crashed a tenth of a mile south, between two storage units, said Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley.

A parachute deployed from the plane following the 3:40 p.m. collision and was still attached to the aircraft when emergency responders arrived on the scene, said Capt. Kevin Fox of Frederick County Fire and Rescue. The large, red-and-white striped parachute could initially be seen still inflated and in the air, and then on the ground.

Chris Wolfe, owner of Wolfe Moving Systems about a half-mile from the airport, said he heard the collision.

"We didn't see it happen. We just heard this loud bang," he said. "It sounded closer than what it was, but it was a hell of a collision."

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