Maryland State Police and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating a plane crash at the Carroll County Regional Airport Friday morning in which the pilot, a Montgomery County man, died.
Henry Judkins, 64, of the 7700 block of Epsilon Drive in Rockville was the pilot and the only person aboard the Remos GX, a Light Sport Aircraft, at the time of the crash, police report. Judkins was pronounced dead at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.
Police said the preliminary investigation suggests that Judkins was one mile away from the Carroll County Regional Airport in Westminster when he reported mechanical issues. Witnesses observed the aircraft flying at varying altitudes before descending into a grassy area approximately 40 feet from the runway.
Emergency medical personnel performed life-saving measures at the scene in anticipation of the arrival of a helicopter transport but the helicopter had an engine malfunction and was unable to help in the rescue effort, police said.
Judkins was transported by ambulance to an area near the Mitchell Golf Course in Reisterstown, where another helicopter transported the patient to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland in Baltmore, where he died.
Maryland State Police Crime Scene technicians, the and officers from the assisted in the response.
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate to try to determine a cause of the crash.
