New Jersey skydiving company says pilot tried emergency landing before crash

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MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The pilot of a skydiving team encountered mechanical issues that prompted an emergency landing at a small New Jersey airport but could not get the plane stopped at the end of the runway, the company said in a statement Thursday.

Skydive Cross Keys said the plane was at an altitude of about 900 metres when the problem arose. Fifteen people were aboard the plane, and as of Thursday afternoon three remained in critical condition at a New Jersey hospital and five others were listed as serious.

The single-engine Cessna 208B radioed about having engine trouble after takeoff and crashed on landing around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Cross Keys Airport, about 35 km southeast of Philadelphia, authorities said. An initial report posted Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft, with 14 passengers and one crew member, “crashed while returning to the airport after a runway excursion into trees.”

Monroe Township Police Chief John McBride said he was among the first rescuers to arrive at the crash, finding most of the victims “out of the plane and crawling on the ground.” Some were still trying to remove their parachutes.

Fire crews had to cut down trees to get to the wreckage, which McBride said was “completely mangled, just beyond repair. It just looked like a big pile of metal.” Less-injured victims were tending to more seriously hurt people. Some were screaming in pain and victims were covered in jet fuel.

“It was chaotic,” McBride said at a Thursday news conference. “Officers are hollering for assistance, trying to calm everyone down.”

Cooper University Hospital spokesperson Wendy A. Marano said all eight of the patients at the hospital in Camden suffered blunt-force trauma, including injuries to their extremities and soft tissue damage. Township emergency officials had said three victims were taken to Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill, but the hospital’s spokesperson said that while its emergency medical responders treated victims at the scene, none were taken to Inspira facilities.

Only one of the 15 people refused medical treatment. McBride said that when he told the man he had a facial injury and needed care, his response was: “It’ll be something cool to tell the ladies later.”

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In its statement, Skydive Cross Keys said three people were unhurt and none of the injuries are thought to be life-threatening. It said the plane was up-to-date on scheduled maintenance and had recently been inspected by the FAA. The company described the unnamed pilot as experienced.

“The plane did try to circle back and attempt a landing, we are told, but was unsuccessful in that attempt,” Andrew Halter, with Gloucester County Emergency Management, said during a news conference Wednesday night.

“Just the fact that we have 15 people that are still with us here today, some with minor injuries, I think is fantastic and remarkable,” he said.

Halter said the aircraft is owned and operated by ARNE Aviation out of Virginia and leased to Skydive Cross Keys. A message seeking a comment was left Thursday morning for ARNE Aviation.

Federal agencies are investigating the crash.

— Scolforo contributed from Harrisburg, Pa., and Maryclaire Dale from Camden, N.J..