Three young men have died after a small aircraft crashed in Maryland, coming down perilously close to homes and a playground.
The victims, all Israeli citizens, were killed when the single-engine Piper PA-28 Cherokee crashed in Bowie at about 11.30pm on Saturday.
Authorities identified them as David Rabinowitz, 19, of Haifa, Israel; Yoav Bomrind, 26, of Zichron Yaakov, Israel; and Elad Naidik, 20, of Toronto, who were all pronounced dead at the scene.
Bomrind was piloting the plane on a training flight from Ocean City, New Jersey, to Montgomery County Air Park in Gaithersburg, Maryland, according to the filed flight plan.
Maryland State Police said the aircraft was owned by a flight school operating out of the Air Park.
Investigators have not yet determined what caused the crash, with the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration set to lead the inquiry.
The first warning reportedly came from an automated alert sent by one of the victims’ iPhones, but search teams needed around four hours to locate the wreckage in a wooded area.
David Rabinowitz, 19, (left) of Haifa, Israel, Yoav Bomrind, 26, (center) of Zichron Yaakov, Israel, and Elad Naidik, 20, (right) of Toronto died in Saturday’s light aircraft crash
The three Israeli citizens died instantly when the single-engine Piper PA-28 Cherokee went down in Bowie, Maryland (wreckage pictured)
Alarms were first raised by an automated alert sent out by one of the victims’ iPhone and it took four hours to find the wreckage in the woods
Residents on Scarlet Oak Court awoke to find the plane had barely missed their homes and a nearby playground.
Kirby Mackall posted photos of wreckage from the plane lying just several feet from her door the next morning. The debris field covered 100ft.
‘Woke up to a plane crash in our backyard! God is good, it could have hit our home how close it was,’ she said.
‘[We] heard the crash but didn’t think it was [anything] like that.’
Bomrind was adopted from Ukraine at just one year old and was in the US trying to fulfil his dream of becoming a professional pilot.
His father Shalom said he was a skilled soccer player, with his father posting dozens of photos of him playing for local clubs, amateur pilot, and volunteer policeman.
‘He was a beautiful, smart young man and the best son parents could ask for,’ Shalom told Israeli media.
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Bomrind was adopted from Ukraine at just one year old and was in the US trying to fulfil his dream of becoming a professional pilot
Bomrind’s father Shalom (pictured together) said he was a skilled soccer player, with his father posting dozens of photos of him playing for local clubs, amateur pilot, and volunteer policeman
Bomrind is survived by his parents and sister Inbar, 21, who is an officer in the Israeli army.
Hours before his death, he posted a tribute to his friend, Sergeant First Class Nir Ben Ari, who was killed in action in Lebanon.
‘Unbelievable, we grew up together,’ he wrote.
Naidik worshipped at Chabad of Maple outside Toronto with his parents Oren and Niri, and which posted photos of his Bar Mitzvah in 2018.
Other photos showed him helping to set up marquees for religious events.
Why Rabinowitz and Naidik were in the US and on the flight with Bomrind is unclear.
Recovery of the bodies for burial was facilitated by ZAKA, an Israeli search and rescue organization, and volunteers from the Metsalchim charity.
Naidik worshipped at Chabad of Maple outside Toronto, which posted photos of him helping to set up marquees for religious events
Recovery of the bodies for burial was facilitated by ZAKA, an Israeli search and rescue organization
‘For long hours, we worked with due respect for the deceased, collecting all the findings and treating the difficult scene,’ Yanki Landau, head of ZAKA’s US operations, said.
Naidik will be buried in Toronto and the others repatriated to Israel for services.
The Israeli Consul in Washington and the Department for Israelis Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was assisting the trio’s families.
The NTSB said investigators would review the plane’s maintenance history, weather conditions, air traffic communications, and the pilot’s flight records.
