Small plane crashes in neighborhood near Baltimore-Washington airport, killing pilot

Friday, May 14th 2004, 8:56 am

By: News On 6

LINTHICUM, Md. (AP) _ A small plane crashed in a residential neighborhood just east of Baltimore-Washington International Airport Friday morning, killing the pilot, an airport spokesman said.

A search of the plane found only the pilot, and no one was injured on the ground, said Maj. Greg Shipley of the Maryland State Police.

Nothing that the fuselage landed at the front door of a house, Shipley called it ``nothing short of a miracle'' that no one else was hurt.

Mike Doyle, 53, said the plane roared low over the neighborhood before it crashed about a block from his house, which is not in the usual flight path.

``He was probably 100 feet over the ground _ so low it rattled the house,'' said Doyle, who was getting his three children off to school when the plane went down.

The plane took off from Philadelphia and was headed to BWI when it crashed about 7:25 a.m., said airport spokeswoman Cheryl Stewart. She said it was an MU2 ``high-wing'' turboprop plane.

It was carrying a cargo of financial documents, airport spokesman Jonathan Dean said.

The plane crashed in front of a home less than a half-mile from the nearest runway. The wreckage and a nearby pickup truck both appeared to be covered in firefighting foam.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were en route to the scene to begin an investigation, Dean said.

Atlanta-based Epps Aviation registered the plane with the Federal Aviation Administration. A man who answered the phone there Friday morning said the company would not comment. He declined to identify himself.