Police ID Pair Rescued From Maryland Small Plane Crash

A 66-year-old man and woman were rescued after being stranded 100 feet up for seven hours with serious injuries from a small plane that crashed into a power tower in Montgomery County Sunday, Nov. 27.

Patrick Merkle was rescued after his small plane crashed with one other person on board in Maryland.
Photo Credit: *IAFF Local 1664 Montgomery County Career Fire Fighters/Patrick Merkle LinkedIn*

Cecilia Levine

11/27/2022 6:40 p.m.

The pilot, Patrick Merkle, 66, of Washington DC, and his passenger, Janet Williams, 66, of Marrero, LA, had apparently departed from Westchester County Airport in New York, in a Mooney Mike 20P single engine plane, before crashing in Gaithersburg around 6:45 p.m., officials said.

Nearly 85,000 people were without power for about six hours, PEPCO records show.

Merkle and Williams were rescued around 1 a.m., using two specialty crane/boom trucks. The area of Goshen Road and Rothbury Drive remains closed while efforts to remove the plane continue.

Social media and online records show that Merkle is an attorney with roots in Greenwich, CT.

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