Small plane crashes near Fort Meade; pilot critically injured

A 60-year-old pilot was critically injured Friday afternoon when his small plane crashed on a two-lane roadway near Fort Meade, authorities said.

The plane, a single-engine piper, went down in the road shortly after 4:15 p.m. and skidded into a wooded area, said Battalion Chief Michael Cox of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department.

The pilot was trapped in the wreckage, and it took firefighters about 15 minutes to free him. He suffered life-threatening injuries, and he was flown to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Cox said.

State police were investigating the crash. The plane went down less than a mile from Tipton Airport at Fort Meade. The pilot took off from an airfield in Pennsylvania and was planning to land at Tipton, Cox said.

The plane's registered owner lives in Emmaus, Pa., according to the Federal Aviation Administration registry.

In October, a single-engine airplane registered in suburban Chicago crashed Thursday afternoon on the grounds of Tipton Airport, killing both people aboard, Anne Arundel County fire officials said.

Source: www.zwire.com