A search-and-rescue operation for a missing private plane ended early Sunday with the discovery of three bodies in the aircraft's wreckage in a wooded area near Bowie, Maryland, officials said. The pilot and two passengers aboard the single-engine Piper Cherokee were pronounced dead after rescuers located the wreckage near a residential neighborhood in Bowie, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
The bodies of three adult men were recovered, according to a statement from the Maryland State Police. The names of those who perished were being withheld by authorities pending notification of relatives.
Investigators believe the aircraft belongs to a local flight school in Montgomery County and that it may have been participating in a training flight. The plane had taken off around 11:30 p.m. ET on Saturday from Ocean City, New Jersey, and was en route to Montgomery County Air Park in Maryland when it crashed.
About 15 minutes after takeoff, an iPhone crash alert was received by Prince George's County Public Safety Communications, indicating a crash had occurred near where routes 50 and 301 connect in the Bowie area. A ground and aerial search, involving several agencies, was immediately launched, officials said.
The wooded area where the crash occurred is in close proximity to a residential area in Bowie, according to the state police. No injuries were reported on the ground.
Israeli media reports cited the Foreign Ministry as confirming that the three individuals on board were Israelis. The aircraft was identified as a Piper PA-28, a common training aircraft in the United States.