Death From the Sky

6 Killed as Jet Slams Into Maryland Home

Woman and 2 sons in house, crew dead.

A small, private jet slammed into a house Monday, killing a woman and her young sons inside the home and three people on the aircraft, authorities said. The jet crashed in Gaithersburg, a Washington, D.C., suburb, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Chief Steve Lohr said during a news conference. Authorities quickly said all three people in the plane had been killed, but it took hours for fire crews to sweep the home and confirm that three people were inside. They were identified as 36-year-old Marie Gemmell and her two sons, 3-year-old Cole and a 1-month-old Devon, police said. They were found in a second-floor bathroom. Gemmell was lying on top of her young sons in an apparent effort to shield them from the smoke and fire, said Police Capt. Paul Starks. Her husband and a school-age daughter were not home and were accounted for, police said.