Two Dead After Plane Crashes Near Fort Meade

ODENTON, Md. (AP) - The pilot of a single-engine plane that crashed on the grounds of Tipton Airport, killing both people aboard, was a family oriented man who "loved his family, loved his job and loved flying," his son-in-law said.

Daniel Eberhardt's Piper Malibu PA46 crashed shortly after takeoff Thursday and was in flames in a wooded area at the end of a runway when firefighters arrived shortly after the crash was reported at 3:45 p.m. according to Lt. Russ Davies, an Anne Arundel County fire department spokesman.

The airplane fueled at the airport before the crash, said 1st Sgt. Russell Newell, a spokesman for the Maryland State Police. Hunters in the area at the time reported that the plane appeared to turn around just after takeoff and then it crashed, he said.

Although Newell said authorities did not expect to identify the people on board for some time, because the bodies were burned beyond recognition, Eberhardt's family was notified by authorities that he was piloting the plane.

"I got a call from my sister-in-law to check to hangar" where Eberhardt's plane was normally kept, Stan Sypien, his son-in-law, said late Thursday from his home in Downers Grove, Ill., near Chicago. He lives just a few minutes from the hangar, he said.

Eberhardt, 57, was president and chief executive officer of MRC Polymers Inc. in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune reported. The company recycles plastic, Sypien said.

"He was a family oriented man," Sypien said. "I looked at him as a father figure. He had a great heart. If you needed something, he'd be there."

Eberhardt was an experienced pilot, having flown for at least 13 years, his son-in-law said.

Sypien said he did not know Eberhardt planned to fly Thursday, and had no idea who other person in the aircraft was.

Information from FlightAware, an Internet flight tracker, indicated the Piper was flown to Tipton from an airport near Pittsburgh on Monday. Records from the National Transportation Safety Board show the Piper was damaged when it traveled beyond a runway in Redlands, Calif., in 1996. There were no injuries in that incident, and it was not known who was flying the plane.

Eberhardt, who was divorced, had three sons, two daughters and two brothers, Sypien said. He also had two grandchildren, including Sypien's first child, who was born earlier this month.

Tipton Airport is a former Army airfield next to Fort Meade that is now operated by a state-chartered airport authority.

Along with state police, investigators from the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration were also called to the scene.

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