MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Three men remained in critical condition at a New Jersey hospital Thursday afternoon and five others were listed as serious, a day after a skydiving plane with 15 people aboard crashed into a wooded area near a small airport.
The single engine Cessna 208B radioed about having engine trouble after takeoff and crashed on landing Wednesday evening near Cross Keys Airport, about 21 miles (34 kilometers) southeast of Philadelphia, authorities said. A 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 spokeswoman 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.”
A woman working at Skydive Cross Keys, which leases the plane involved in the crash, said Thursday the company would likely have a statement.
“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 comment was left Thursday morning for ARNE Aviation.
Federal agencies are investigating the crash.
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Scolforo contributed from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Maryclaire Dale from Camden, New Jersey.
