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15 injured in skydiving plane crash at Cross Keys Airport in Williamstown, New Jersey

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A skydiving aircraft carrying 15 people crashed at Cross Keys Airport in Williamstown, New Jersey, on Wednesday, officials said, sending 14 people to local hospitals and leaving three in critical condition.

Just before 5:30 p.m., crews were dispatched for a downed aircraft at the airport on North Tuckahoe Road, said Andrew Halter, who is with the Gloucester County Office of Emergency Management. He said emergency responders declared a mass casualty incident after they arrived.

In a news conference Thursday, officials said the three people in critical condition remained in that status. Those injured had "extremity injuries" and were found in a wooded area near the wreckage of the plane screaming for help. Firefighters worked to cut down trees to clear the area around the crash site and first responders extricated the pilot from the cockpit.

Monroe Township Police Chief John McBride, one of the first on the scene, said the plane "just looked like a big pile of metal" with several people crawling out of it, covered in fuel from the aircraft.

Halter pointed out that emergency crews did a mass casualty training exercise at Cross Keys Airport recently, and he believes that played a role in the response.

"It's amazing at this point that there are no fatalities reported," Halter said. "There are some injuries reported to be severe or critical. Again, people received tremendous medical treatment on scene, a joint effort between police officers, firefighters and EMS crews who first arrived at the scene."

Wendy Marano, of Cooper University Hospital in Camden, N.J., said three were transported to Cooper's trauma center, eight were treated in Cooper's emergency department with less serious injuries, and four who had minor injuries were brought to a waiting room to be reunited with their families.

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Halter said the people on board the aircraft were set to go skydiving, but the pilot reported engine trouble after taking off. 

Skydive Cross Keys stated in a press release that the plane was approximately 3,000 feet in the air when it began experiencing mechanical issues, and the pilot attempted to make an emergency landing. 

According to Skydive Cross Keys, the pilot landed the plane on the runway, but it didn't fully stop and ran off into a wooded area.  

, the small plane, a Cessna 208B, took off from Cross Keys Airport at 5:19 p.m. and was only in the air for four minutes. 

"We feel so relieved there was no loss of life; the outcome could have been much worse," a spokesperson on behalf of Skydive Cross Keys ownership said in a statement. "We're incredibly thankful for the skill and composure of our pilot, whose actions helped keep everyone alive. We're also deeply grateful to the emergency responders who arrived so quickly and took such great care of everyone on board. The outpouring of support from the skydiving community and from so many people who have jumped with us over the years has truly meant the world to our team."  

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The crash is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Monroe Township Police Department and the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.

Skydive Cross Keys said the small plane was up to date and had recently undergone a routine FAA inspection. The skydiving center said it is cooperating with the FAA in the investigation.

The plane is still at the scene of the crash, and crews were at the scene through the night, according to Halter.

Officials provide update after skydiving plane crashes at Cross Keys Airport in Williamstown, N.J. 08:55

2023 incident in Virginia involved plane in Williamstown crash

The small plane was involved in an incident in July 2023 at an airport in Suffolk, Virginia. 

In the NTSB's final report from the 2023 incident, the federal agency said the pilot was returning from her fifth skydive of the day when the aircraft went off the runway during the landing. 

As the plane landed in Virginia, "the flare seemed insufficient," and the nose landing gear collapsed. The plane then went off the runway and came to rest in the grass. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the engine mounts during the incident, according to the NTSB. The federal agency said the pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions or failures with the plane that would have "precluded normal operation."

The NTSB determined that the "pilot's inadequate landing flare" resulted in the crash in 2023.

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