New Jersey: Skydiving Plane Carrying 15 Crashes at End of Runway

A skydiving plane carrying 15 people crashed at the edge of the runway during takeoff from a small airport in New Jersey on Wednesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the Cessna 208 crashed at Cross Keys Airport in Monroe Township, New Jersey, per the New York Times:

A spokeswoman for Cooper University Hospital in Camden, N.J., which has a Level One trauma center, said trauma surgeons were at the crash scene triaging the victims.

The spokeswoman, Wendy Marano, said three people were taken to the hospital’s trauma center. Eight others “with less severe injuries” were being treated in the emergency department and four people with “minimal injuries” were in the hospital’s waiting room awaiting care.

In a post on social media, Gloucester County Emergency Management urged the public to avoid the area around the airport, citing a “mass casualty incident” after a plane crash. Several agencies were responding, it said.

According to 6ABC Philadelphia, crews on the scene found extensive damage to the plane, and many victims were covered in jet fuel.

“Patients were decontaminated prior to being transported to the hospital. There were 15 souls on board in the aircraft, including the pilot,” said Andrew Halter with Gloucester County Emergency Management.

“The pilot was reportedly in an ascent at that point, and again reported some engine trouble, and that’s when he was trying to circle back to make it back down onto the ground but was unable to do so,” Halter added.

Resident Sierra Kelly of Williamstown said that “some of them planes come so close down to our house that it’s crazy. I have kids in there. Who knows if they’re going to crash into our house.”