TWO KILLED IN CARROLL COUNTY PLANE CRASH

(Keymar, MD)—The investigation is continuing into this morning’s plane crash in northwestern Carroll County that took the lives of both persons aboard.

The victims are identified as Robert H. Kociemba, 61, of the 700-block of St. George-Barber Road, Davidsonville, Md., who is believed to have been the pilot, and Letty (nmn) Williams, 66, of the 3800-block of Glebe Meadow Way, Edgewater, Md. The two were said to have been friends.

Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene by members of the Taneytown Volunteer Fire Department. A forensic examiner for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner responded to the scene and ordered the bodies of both victims transported to Baltimore for autopsies.

At about 7:30 a.m. today, Maryland state troopers from the Westminster Barracks were dispatched to the area of Sharrett Road, just off Rt. 194 in Keymar, for the report of an aircraft crash. Arriving troopers found the two-seat aircraft crashed in a cornfield, about one-quarter mile from the Keymar Airpark, a privately owned airstrip southwest of Taneytown.

The preliminary investigation indicates the victims had taken off from the airpark just minutes before the crash. Their destination was unknown. Troopers contacted federal aviation officials who responded to the scene and are conducting an investigation into the cause of the crash.

The aircraft is believed to be a Golden Circle Air T-Bird II, classified by the FAA as a light sport aircraft. The engine and propeller in this type of aircraft are located behind the pilot and passenger.

Troopers learned from the owner of the airpark that Kociemba flew from his airstrip two to three times a week and had rented hangar space from him for about four years. Kociemba was said to have been an experienced pilot.