The two people that were killed in the small plane crash that happened Saturday morning in Carroll County have been identified as federal investigators take over the case.
SEE ALSO: Pilot and passenger dead following a small plane crash in Carroll County
Maryland State Police say the pilot, 62-year-old Michael Kilpatrick was from New Windsor, not far from Westminster, and the only passenger, 56-year-old Robert Johnson was from Woodsboro in Frederick County. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
The crash happened just before 11 a.m. Saturday in a field off Baugher Road in Westminster. just past Baugher's Orchards Market.
Neighbors and Baugher's Orchards employees say the two victims were in town for a fly-in breakfast meet-up, landing at a private airstrip near the crash site.
Baugher's Orchard has have a private airport registered online, just a block from the crash.
Police say the single engine plane crashed soon after taking back off.
Neighbors say the plane was circling the area for a few minutes before the crash.
"The information that was relayed from witnesses was that the plane took off and spiraled downwards, plummeting into the ground," Maryland State Police spokesman Sgt. DaVaughn Parker said.
Police say the two men were in a 2006 Ultralight Quicksilver singe engine plane. According to the FAA registry, Kilpatrick's certificate for that plane was last issued in 2010 and he was also registered to fly another single engine plane. He had a private pilots license and was a certified repairman for light sport aircraft.
A Baugher's employee said other workers at the orchard knew the victims and their hearts go out to the Kilpatrick and Johnson families.
Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be handling the investigation, looking into the cause of the crash. They were on scene all day Sunday. Although the NTSB's full report takes at least a year, the preliminary report will be available in a few weeks.
