Passenger Identified in Plane Crash; Investigation Continues

»Investigators remain at the scene of a plane crash in Gaithersburg that killed six people. Credit: Pete Piringer/MCFRS

As federal aviation officials search for what caused a private jet to plummet into a Gaithersburg house Monday, killing six people, Montgomery County Police have confirmed a mother and two of her children died inside the home.

Marie Gemmell, 36, and her sons, Cole Gemmell, 3, and Devon Gemmell, 1 ½ months, were all killed in their house in the 19700 block of Drop Forge Lane, authorities said Tuesday.

The twin-engine 10-passenger plane came down near houses on Drop Forge Lane near Blue Smoke Lane, causing more than $4 million damage. The crash site is less than a mile from the Montgomery County Airpark.

Tracy Everett, an eyewitness to the crash, said he saw the plane flying erratically just a couple hundred feet above the treetops.

The trouble plane “was up, down, left, right, struggling to keep his position,” Everett told Montgomery Community Media.

The plane veered right, then made a sharp left before taking a “nose barrel dive into the neighborhood,” Everett said. “Just a bad scene.”

Three people on the plane also died, County Fire and Rescue Services spokesman Pete Piringer says, and local authorities are working with the National Transportation Safety Board to release their names. The federal agency plans to have a news conference Tuesday afternoon; its investigators remain on the scene.

Montgomery County Fire Chief Steve Lohr said at a news briefing that once the fire was out, rescuers had to shore up the remaining structure to search for victims. That was when the bodies of Gemmell and her children were found.

Her husband, Kenneth, 36, was at work, and their 5-year-old daughter, Arabelle, was at school at the time of the crash.

The mother and children were found in the second floor bathroom. Gemmell was lying on top of her kids apparently to shield her children from the crash and the fire, according to USA Today.

Montgomery County Police Major Crimes-Homicide Division is investigating the Gemmell family deaths, the department says. Police are working with both Fire Rescue and the National Transportation Safety Board as the investigation into the plane crash and deaths continues. Police are coordinating with federal authorities to release the names of the three victims who were inside the plane.

Anyone with information is asked to call 301-279-8000.

Plane’s Owner Involved in Earlier Crash

The plane’s reported owner, Dr. Michael J. Rosenberg - CEO of North Carolina-based Health Decisions - was among the three people killed on the plane, reports WJLA TV. He was described as an experienced pilot.

Rosenberg had survived a March 2010 crash into some trees near the same air field -- Montgomery County Airpark. That accident destroyed his $1.4 million turbo-prop plane. “The pilot’s failure to maintain aircraft control while performing a go-around” was cited by the NTSB as the crash cause, reports WJLA.

A North Carolina company says that one of its employees died in the plane crash, reports WUSA TV. According to Nuventra Pharma Sciences, Dr. David Hartman was on the plane Monday. Hartman was the company’s vice president of clinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and nonclinical development.

Fundraiser for Family’s Expenses

The outpouring of grief has spurred action: Friends of the Gemmell family in their hometown of Brick, NJ, put together a gift-card fundraiser to help Ken and Arabelle with immediate needs. In Gaithersburg, the waitress at their favorite brewpub -- Dogfish Head Alehouse in Gaithersburg -- started a gofundme.com page that had raised nearly $175,000 as of 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“Marie was loved by many,” one poster on the gofundme page wrote in a note addressed to Ken and Arabelle. “I hope that you both feel that love and support in the days and years ahead.”

To donate to the gofundme effort, visit the Gemmell family page here.

See also:

• Death of Mom, Sons in Plane Crash Sends Shockwaves Through Community
• Mom, Two Children Die When Plane Hits Their House
• UPDATE: 6 Dead After Plane Crashes into Gaithersburg House: Reports