Three dead after airplane and helicopter collide in Maryland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three people were killed and two taken to a hospital after a small airplane and a helicopter collided in mid-air on Thursday near a local airport in Frederick, Maryland, authorities said. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said a Cirrus SR22 airplane coming in for a landing at Frederick Municipal Airport collided with a helicopter that was involved in a training exercise on Thursday afternoon. Three people were killed and two people were taken to a hospital in Hagerstown, Maryland, said Captain Kevin Fox, a spokesman for the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services. Rescue crews found the airplane and helicopter relatively close to each other and about one-quarter to one-half mile from the airport, Fox said. The Cirrus airplane has an airframe parachute that can be deployed in an emergency. Fox said the parachute was attached to the airplane when emergency crews arrived. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the collision, the FAA said. (Reporting by Lacey Johnson; Editing by David Bailey and Sandra Maler)