Pilot in N.J. skydiving plane crash reported loss of engine power and tried to glide back to airport, report says
No one died in the July 2 crash at Cross Keys Airport in Monroe Township, Gloucester County.
The pilot of a skydiving plane that crashed earlier this month at Cross Keys Airport in Gloucester County reported a loss of engine power and attempted to glide back to the airport but landed too fast and plowed into the woods beyond the runway, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report.
No one died in the July 2 crash. Fourteen of the 15 people on board the single-engine Cessna 208B received medical treatment or evaluations. Eight people were hospitalized, with three initially reported in critical condition.
The following day, Skydive Cross Keys, the company that operated the plane, said in a statement that the aircraft experienced midair “mechanical issues” and made an emergency landing on the runway but was unable to stop.
That same day, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a brief report saying the plane “experienced engine issues” and crashed while returning to the airport “after a runway excursion into trees.”
The NTSB report, made available Thursday, said the plane had made an earlier 18-minute skydive flight without issues the day of the crash.
On its second flight early that evening, about 3,000 feet in the air, “the pilot reported a loss of engine power and attempted to glide the airplane back to runway 27 at Cross Keys Airport” in Monroe Township, the NTSB said.
The plane approached the 3,500-foot long asphalt runway “fast, floated, and touched down near the end. It traveled off the end of the runway and collided with trees” about 700 feet beyond the runway, the NTSB said. The plane continued 250 feet through the woods before coming to a stop upright.
The NTSB and FAA investigations are ongoing.
The day after the crash, Skydive Cross Keys said the aircraft was current on all scheduled maintenance and had recently undergone a routine FAA inspection.
“We feel so relieved there was no loss of life; the outcome could have been much worse,” the company said in its statement.