Three dead in helicopter-small plane collision at Maryland airport

Three people died and two were injured when a small aircraft and a helicopter collided Thursday afternoon at a municipal airport in Frederick, Maryland, according to Frederick County Fire Chief Denise Pouget, CNN reported.

Maryland State Police told CNN it "appeared" to have been an in-flight collision.

"Emergency personnel from Frederick County responded and found two crash scenes," said Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley. "A small plane was found in a thin wooded tree line. Two persons were aboard that aircraft both of whom were transported to the Meredith Medical Center in Hagerstown."

"The other crash scene was about a tenth of a mile from that location where there was a self-storage facility. There was a helicopter that crashed between storage lockers at that location. There were three people confirmed deceased. We do not know if all three were on board the aircraft," said Shipley.

The two survivors taken to a hospital were later discharged, said Meritus Medical Center spokeswoman Joelle Butler.

One of the men was uninjured and the other had a laceration to the forehead, said National Transportation Safety Board investigator Brian Rainer.