U.S. investigators are examining whether a lack of fuel may have caused a small Piper aircraft to crash in Maryland, killing three Israelis. The plane was on a night training flight from New Jersey on Saturday and was supposed to land near Gaithersburg, Maryland, but instead began a gradual descent near Bowie, far from its intended destination.
After the aircraft disappeared from radar, emergency crews searched the area and found the wreckage overnight in a wooded site near a residential neighborhood and a playground. All three passengers died at the scene, and no one on the ground was reported hurt.
The investigation is being led by the National Transportation Safety Board, together with the Federal Aviation Administration and Maryland police. Officials have not determined the cause of the crash, but fuel starvation is among the early lines of inquiry. A preliminary report is expected in the coming weeks.
The names of the dead have not yet been released, pending identification and notification of their families. ZAKA’s international unit assisted at the scene, helped the families, and handled the process of releasing the bodies. ZAKA said its volunteers were dealing with two serious incidents in the United States that day, including a fatal car crash in Los Angeles that killed two Israelis. ZAKA operations chief Chaim Weingarten said it was an especially difficult day for the international unit, which was working in several U.S. locations while arranging for the deceased to be transferred for burial in Israel.
