AUDIO: 3 dead after small plane crashes near Bowie neighborhood
Valerie Bonk | vbonk@wtop.com
June 21, 2026, 10:00 AM
A single-engine plane crashed near a neighborhood late Saturday in Bowie, Maryland, leaving three people dead, according to police.
The single-engine Piper Cherokee crashed around 11:30 p.m. with a pilot and two passengers on board, according to Maryland State Police spokesperson Elena Russo. All three people on board were adults. Identification is being withheld pending next of kin notification, police said.
The plane was en route from Ocean City, New Jersey, to Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, Russo said.
Prince George’s County Public Safety Communications received information at 11:53 p.m. about an “iPhone crash alert” that indicated “a crash in the area of Rt. 50 and 301,” Russo said.
Multiple local agencies responded and began a ground and aerial search immediately, including members of the Prince George’s County Fire Department, Maryland State Police College Park Barrack, Anne Arundel County Police and Aviation, Bowie City Police and the Prince George’s County Police Department.
The aircraft was located around 3:45 a.m., “in a wooden area in close proximity to a residential area” off of Scarlet Oak Terrace, Russo said.
“We don’t have any other information at this point from any eye witnesses or anybody that heard anything. The only thing we have is that iPhone crash alert,” she said.
The debris covers about 100 feet in a wooded area behind a fence that is “very close to a townhome community behind a playground,” she said.
Police said that they believe that the plane belongs to an area flight school in Montgomery County and “was possibly participating in a training flight.”
WTOP’s Dan Ronan, a licensed pilot, said that the Piper Cherokee is commonly used in training because it is relatively easy to operate.
“It is frequently flown, very safe,” Ronan said. “It is a relatively simple airplane to fly because it does not have retractable landing gear. The gear is fixed. The engine is relatively simple in terms of aviation parlance. Managing the engine and the power settings is relatively simple, as compared to other complex, more complicated airplanes,” he said.
When it comes to visibility, Ronan said Saturday night was very clear and conditions were favorable for flying.
“As far as nights to fly, last night was a gorgeous night,” he said. “The temperature was cool, it was in the 70s, the visibility was wide open, very good visibility in terms of flying. If you’re going to pick a night to fly general aviation and do a cross country from Ocean City, New Jersey, to our area, very, very good night to fly in terms of just overall conditions,” he said.
Police said the crash site is near a public park by the townhomes that was narrowly avoided by the plane.
“It’s absolutely a tragic incident that we are here investigating today. It could have been even worse because of the proximity of the crash was literally right next to a town home community in Bowie,” Russo said.
The investigation will be led by the NTSB and the FAA. The NTSB has dispatched someone from an area field office was expected to arrive Sunday morning.
Ronan said that the NTSB will be looking at the pilot, passengers, aircraft and all elements before and during flight.
“They’re going to be looking at the airplane, the condition of the airplane, all of the mechanical records, and then, of course, they will deconstruct the lives of those poor people who passed away,” Ronan said. “Sadly, they will be deconstructing the last week of their lives to try and figure out what, if any, human factors might have been a contributing factor that caused this accident late last night, early this morning.”
A map of the area where the plane crashed is below:
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Valerie Bonk started working at WTOP in 2016 and has lived in Howard County, Maryland, her entire life. She’s thrilled to be a reporter for WTOP telling stories on air. She works as both a television and radio reporter in the Maryland and D.C. areas.
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