NTSB details fatal plane crash near Bowie homes and playground

A Piper PA-28-181 crashed near Bowie at about 11:28 p.m. June 20, killing the pilot and two passengers and leaving the wreckage in a heavily wooded area close to homes and a playground. The preliminary report places the plane, registration N249WF, on a personal flight under Part 91 when it went down near Scarlett Oak Court.

The flight had started hours earlier at Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg about 4:30 p.m. and went to Ocean City Municipal Airport in Ocean City, New Jersey, where it landed about 5:41 p.m. After returning to the airport later that night, the aircraft made three touch-and-go landings before taking off again about 10:10 p.m. for the trip back toward Prince George’s County. ADS-B data in the NTSB report shows the airplane climbed to about 8,500 feet mean sea level, then began a gradual descent to about 2,000 feet roughly 40 miles into the return trip.

The pilot later selected transponder code 7700, transmitted that he wanted to proceed to Freeway Airport in Bowie and, when asked whether he had the airport in sight, said he did not. The airplane continued descending while maneuvering left and right before radar and ADS-B contact were lost. The wreckage was found with both wings separated from the fuselage, a crushed cockpit and impact damage to the wings and engine, with broken tree branches scattered through the wreckage path.

Maryland State Police identified the victims as Yoav Bomrind, 26, of Israel; David Rabinovich, 19, of Israel; and Elad Naidik, 20, of Canada. Prince George’s County Public Safety Communications received an iPhone crash alert at about 11:45 p.m. for the area of Route 50 and 301, and ground and aerial crews from multiple agencies found the wreckage about 3:45 a.m. near Scarlett Oak Court.