March 15, Ocean City, Md.: Cessna Skyhawk

At about 1935 eastern time, a Cessna 172P crashed into the ocean while on approach to Ocean City Municipal Airport. Two passengers died and the pilot and a third passenger were not recovered. Another pilot said he was approaching the airport at the same time as the accident airplane. The accident pilot called Unicom looking for a taxi, but the witness pilot told him the airport closed at sunset and hed have to get a taxi when he landed. The witness pilot saw the accident pilot make the turn to downwind for runway 20 and, as he neared the departure end of runway 14, the airplane went from horizontal flight to vertical. The witness pilot said it was a clear but dark night.