2 Killed In Helicopter Crash In Chesapeake Bay: Police
QUEEN ANNE’S COUNTY, MD — Two men were killed in a helicopter crash Saturday near Kent Island, officials said. Their aircraft landed in the Chesapeake Bay, and search crews found the wreckage in about 55 feet of water near Kent Point Marina in Stevensville, according to Maryland Natural Resources Police.
Pilot Charles Knight, 38, of Mount Airy, and passenger Matt Clarke, 36, of Pasadena, died in the crash, authorities reported.
Their bodies were located south of Bloody Point in the Chesapeake Bay around 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, natural resources police said. The discovery came after several hours of searching.
The crash was reported at 12:18 p.m., according to Maryland Natural Resources Police. Its personnel along with Maryland State Police, the U.S. Coast Guard and crews from the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, Annapolis Fire Department, Talbot County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association and United Communities Volunteer Fire Department assisted in the search.
“UCVFD crews worked tirelessly through the day and evening to assist in the recovery efforts,” the United Communities Volunteer Fire Department, which is based in Stevensville, said in a statement Sunday morning. “Our thoughts go out to the families of the two men recovered after yesterday’s helicopter crash.”
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a two-seat Guinbal Cabri G2GL helicopter crashed approximately 5 miles south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at 12:10 p.m.
Petty Officer Second Class Corinne Zilnicki told Patch that the Coast Guard received the report of the helicopter crash around 12:30 p.m. A man boating in the area, whose brother was aboard the helicopter, witnessed the crash and called it in, Zilnicki said.
Maryland Natural Resources Police reported Sunday morning that its investigators were working with the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration to recover the wreckage from the Chesapeake Bay.
The bodies of Knight and Clarke will be autopsied by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, officials said.
RELATED: Helicopter Crash Off Kent Island; Crews Searching Chesapeake Bay
Patch editor Feroze Dhanoa contributed to this report.
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