Skydiving plane goes off New Jersey runway and crashes into woods, sending 15 to hospital

Fifteen people were taken to the hospital after a skydiving aircraft radioed it was having engine trouble after takeoff and crashed on landing near an airport in southern New Jersey on Wednesday, according to authorities.

The single engine Cessna 208B was carrying 15 people when it crashed at about 5:30 p.m. at the Cross Keys Airport, about 21 miles (34 kilometers) southeast of Philadelphia, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

“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.

The injuries ranged from minor to critical and the plane was severely damaged, Halter said. Some of the people on board were covered in jet fuel and had to be decontaminated before being taken to the hospital, he said.

“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.

Aerial footage of the crashed plane shows it in the woods, with several pieces of debris nearby. Firetrucks and other emergency vehicles surrounded the scene.

Three people were being evaluated at Cooper University Hospital’s trauma center in Camden, New Jersey, and eight people with less severe injuries were being treated in its emergency department, said Wendy A. Marano, a spokesperson for the hospital. Four other patients also with “minimal injuries” were waiting for further evaluation, she said. She wasn’t able to provide the exact nature of the injuries.

Members of the hospital’s EMS and trauma department were at the crash site, she said.

Halter said the aircraft is owned and operated by ARNE Aviation out of Virginia and leased to Skydive Cross Keys. Skydive Cross Keys didn’t immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press requesting comment. When asked about the crash, Tracey Sackett, who confirmed she is ARNE Aviation’s office manager, said to call the office tomorrow.

A person who answered the phone at Cross Keys Airport on Wednesday said he had no information and referred questions to Skydive Cross Keys.

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a post on the social platform X that it is investigating the crash.

Gov. Phil Murphy said on X that he had been briefed on the crash and that there had been “no fatalities at this time.”

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Associated Press reporter Mark Scolforo contributed from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.