Two plane crashes near Suburban Airport in five months have alarmed Brockbridge Estates residents who fear the next crash may kill someone in their neighborhood.
"Our main concern is that our community has a lot of children," said Juan Castro, of the local homeowners association's board of directors. "Just as easy as a plane can drop on a house, it can drop on a playground."
The 66-house subdivision in Anne Arundel County is less than a quarter-mile north of the small general aviation airport on Brock Bridge Road. Planes arriving at and departing from the airport fly over other Maryland City homes as well as Brockbridge Elementary School and the Maryland City Park. The park has three baseball diamonds, tennis courts and a football and soccer field.
Mr. Castro, 36, who moved into Brockbridge Estates 18 months ago, said he hoped the community could reach a "friendly arrangement" with the airport and ask it to change its approach so that planes would fly over less residential areas.
The association scheduled a community meeting Jan. 2 at Brockbridge Elementary School after a single-engine Cessna 172 crashed Thursday night into the woods of Patuxent River Park, less than two miles south of Brockbridge Estates.
Neighbors began calling Mr. Castro after the crash, worried about their safety.
The pilot, George Tyfa, 39, of Jessup, walked away from the wreck that left his plane crumpled among trees. Maryland State Police concluded that the engine failed, causing the plane to lose power and crash, said investigating Trooper Laura Childress. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the accident.
In August, a single-engine plane crashed in the roof of a Brockbridge Estates home in the 3500 block of River Bridge Way. Five people were in the house, but all escaped uninjured. The pilot suffered severe head injuries.
"I realize the airport was here first, but we're talking about human lives," said Terri Stoner, 42, who lives across the street from the home that was hit in August. "I wish it would close."
Suburban Airport, which has about 75 planes based there, has been in Laurel since the late 1950s, long before much of the surrounding area had been developed.
The airport, with a 2,165-foot runway, has several hangars and offers flight instruction, demonstration rides and maintenance on site.
"If this airport was not safe, I wouldn't be flying," said a woman who works and flies from the airport and who did not want to be identified. "The cars are more dangerous than our planes."
In the past 11 years, there have been five crashes near Suburban Airport. None have been fatal.
The airport meets standards set by the Maryland Aviation Administration, said Jon Buck of the Office of Regional Aviation, which inspects and licenses the state's 150 airports.
He described Suburban Airport as "not that busy" and used by recreational pilots who fly mostly in the afternoon, evening and summer. "It's safe -- otherwise, we'd close it," Mr. Buck said.
If Brockbridge Estate residents move to close the airport, not all of their Maryland City neighbors will join them.
"I know I would be there to support the airport," said Donna Appenzeller, 43, who has lived in Maryland City for 30 years. "I never thought of it as a real problem. . . . I've always been concerned, but it's been a part of life basically."