BOWIE, Md. — A new report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reveals the last contact Air Traffic Controllers had with a pilot in Bowie before fatally crashing.
It was June 20 when a single engine Piper Cherokee went down on its way from Ocean City, New Jersey to the Montgomery County Air Park in Gaithersburg.
We previously reported the involved plane was conducting a training flight piloted by 26-year-old Yoav Bomrind, of Israel, with two passengers aboard.
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According to the NTSB, the flight in question conducted three touch-and-go landings in Jersey before heading back towards Maryland.
While en route Bomrind declared a mid-air "Mayday," also known as transponder code 7700.
Bomrind advised Air Traffic Control he would proceed to Freeway Airport in Bowie instead of the originally intended destination in Gaithersburg.
When asked by air controllers if the airport was in his sight, Bomrind replied it wasn't.
That's the last time Bomrind was heard from. All radar contact was quickly lost as well.
The flight was later discovered in a heavily wooded area with both of its wings separated from the fuselage and the back portion of the cockpit crushed.
All three people on-board died.
Weather conditions were clear that night with 10 miles of visibility and winds speeds of 4 knots.
The official cause remains under investigation.
