A small plane crash landed near the entrance to a couple of residential neighborhoods in Gaithersburg Sunday.
The plane had left nearby Montgomery Airpark at about 1:45 p.m. but started to head back after the pilot apparently became disoriented in low-lying clouds. When the plane went into a tail spin, the pilot deployed the plane's parachute system, and the plane floated to the ground, making a gentle crash on Mallory Place between the 8200 block of Snouffer School Road and Mountain Ash Way, a Montgomery County fire department spokesman said.
The pilot was taken to an area hospital but has since been released and has returned home to Kalamazoo, Mich. He did not suffer serious injuries.
The pilot was the only person on the plane. No one else was injured in the crash.
Neighborhood residents who called 911 initially believed someone had parachuted out of the plane, not realizing the parachute was attached to the plane.
Part of Snouffer School Road was closed to traffic while hazardous materials crews cleaned up a minor fuel spill, according to authorities.
