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Helicopter Crash Near Baltimore-Washington International Airport Causes Brush Fire And Delays

By Selina Leavitt
Published on: 16:06 PST, Apr 16, 2016

Investigators have been on the scene of a helicopter crash near the Baltimore-Washington International Airport for the majority of Saturday.

Calls began to reach the Baltimore, Maryland, 911 center just before noon on Saturday. Witnesses explained that they believed they had seen an aircraft of some kind crash by the train tracks near the Baltimore-Washington International Airport MARC station. Baltimore fire and rescue personnel were immediately dispatched from the Maryland State Police Department, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, and the Anne Arundel County Police in Millersville, Maryland.

Upon arriving at the scene, authorities found that a helicopter did indeed crash near the track over by the Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

The pilot was Owen J. Garnett, a 42-year-old from Montrose, Pennsylvania. His two passengers were Kevin A. Tennis, a 29-year-old from Colora, Maryland, and Jordan M. Marsh, a 34-year-old from Monkton, Maryland.

It has been reported by the Maryland State Police Department that the three men were supposedly checking power lines around the Baltimore-Washington International Airport area when they crashed nearby.

The Baltimore Gas and Electric Company issued a statement to the press on Saturday, according to ABC affiliate WJLA.

“The helicopter that crashed this afternoon was a helicopter contractor performing inspections of electric transmission lines for BGE. There was one BGE employee and two contractors on board at the time of the crash. All three individuals are not reporting serious injuries, but were transported as a precaution to a local hospital. No BGE equipment was affected during this incident.”

All three of the people in the helicopter were said to have suffered only minor injuries. Even so, the authorities transported the men to the Baltimore Washington Medical Center for a full check-up, including X-rays, just to be on the safe side.

After the crash, the downed helicopter caught on fire and the blaze spread from the aircraft to the surrounding brush, causing travelers to worry about the effect it might have on the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Amtrak, and Maryland MTA.

The Maryland State Police Department, the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, and the Maryland MTA kept residents of Baltimore, and the surrounding areas, informed throughout the day as they investigated the crash and put out the brush fires that happened as a result of it.

The first tweets on the crash came through at just before noon Saturday when the police department notified followers that there had been a crash off Aviation Blvd between the Baltimore-Washington International Airport MARC station and Old Stoney Run Rd.

Following that, the Baltimore-Washington International Airport Twitter page announced to travelers that there had been a helicopter crash nearby, but that the airport wasn’t experiencing any delays due to it.

The MARC Train Service, however, indicated that they were experiencing significant delays between Washington and Baltimore. They explained that they were unsure how long the helicopter crash would affect their service.

Later in the day, MARC’s Twitter announced that train service between Baltimore and Washington was restored, but there would still be delays.

Those delays were due to the investigation process the police department announced on their feed. They indicated that the NTSB and FAA were both on scene attempting to figure out what caused the crash in the first place.

As the crash victims were taken to the hospital and delays began to return to normal, the Baltimore-Washington International Airport tweeted a “good job” message to the fire and rescue teams that took care of the crash nearby.

Later, the Baltimore-Washington International Airport made one last tweet to acknowledge that there were still no delays, and flights were leaving and arriving as normal.

[Photo By Anne Arundel County Fire Department via AP]

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