Three men remained hospitalized in critical condition and five others were listed as serious Thursday, the morning after a skydiving plane with 15 people aboard crashed into a wooded area near a small airport in southern New Jersey.
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.”
Cooper University Hospital spokesperson Wendy A. Marano said all eight of the patients there suffered blunt force trauma, including injuries to their extremities and soft tissue damage.
A woman working at Skydive Cross Keys, which leases the plane involved in the crash, said the company would likely have a statement later Thursday.
“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 plane was severely damaged, Halter said, and some of those on board were covered in jet fuel and had to be decontaminated before being taken to the hospital.
“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.
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.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a post on the social platform X that it is investigating the crash.
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Associated Press reporter Mark Scolforo contributed from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
