Probe Into Lakewood Plane Crash Underway

LAKEWOOD, NJ — The crash of a small airplane Thursday at Lakewood Township Municipal Airport is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, an NTSB official confirmed on Friday.

The plane, a Cessna 172 with the registration number N12194, crashed into trees about 350 short of the runway, an NTSB spokesman said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said there were three people on board the plane when it crashed, all of whom were injured. That number was a correction from information released Thursday by Lakewood police, who said there were four people on board.

No information was released by Lakewood police on Friday about the identities of those on board the plane.

The NTSB would be taking the plane to a secure facility for evaluation, the agency spokesman said, adding the NTSB does not speculate about the cause of any aircraft crash during the on-scene phase of the investigation.

According to the FAA, the Cessna is owned by Yochonon Miller of Lakewood, and Miller holds a valid pilot's license. It is not known whether Miller was flying the plane when it crashed.

The flight had taken off from Lakewood Airport at 3:18 p.m. and the plane was in the air for 34 minutes, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking company.

The NTSB spokesman said the investigation will be looking at flight track data; recordings of any air traffic control communications; aircraft maintenance records; pilot’s license, ratings and recency of flight experience; any electronic devices that could contain information relevant to the investigation, and any available surveillance video, including from doorbell cameras.

A preliminary report is anticipated sometime in January, and the final report, with the probable cause of the crash, takes six months to a year, the NTSB spokesman said.