Cirrus SR22 Collides With Robinson R44, Two Survive

A Cirrus SR22 on approach to Frederick Municipal Airport in Frederick, MD collided with a Robinson R44 helicopter on a training flight Thursday, resulting in the fatal injury of the three on board the helicopter.

It was not known which of the three was piloting the helo at the time of the accident. The three have been identified as 29-year-old Christopher Parsons of Westminster, MD, 35-year-old Brendan MacFawn of Cumberland, MD, and 47-year-old William Jenkins of Morrison, CO.

The two men aboard the Cirrus survived the accident after deploying the aircraft's ballistic parachute. They have been identified as Scott Graeves of Brookeville, MD, who was piloting the Cirrus, and Gilbert Porter of Sandy Spring, MD.

Television station WUSA-TV reports that the accident occurred at 1540 EDT. According to FlightAware, the Cirrus left Cleveland Regional Jetport in Cleveland, TN en route to Frederick. The television station reports that the helicopter was being operated by a flight school at Frederick.

Maryland State Police report that the plane went down east of downtown Frederick, while the helo impacted the ground about a 10th of a mile south of the Cirrus between two storage units. The Cirrus pilot and passenger were treated at Meritus Medical Center's trauma unit in Hagerstown and later released.

(Cirrus SR22 and Robinson R44 pictured in file photos. Not accident aircraft)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov