'Terrible Tragedy:' NJ Doctor Dies In Plane Crash, Officials Say

NEW JERSEY – A doctor who served in four New Jersey counties was killed in a twin-engine plane crash this weekend as he prepared for an air show in Florida, officials said.

Joseph Masessa, a dermatologist in Toms River, Rockaway, Parsippany, Manahawkin, Clifton, Newfoundland and Kearny, was killed in the crash, officials said.

The pilot of the Grumman Mohawk aircraft was set to take part in this weekend’s Stuart Airshow when his plane crashed on a runway extension at Whitham Field. The crash occurred just after 1 p.m. on Friday, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office is working with the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate "all aspects of this terrible tragedy."

The airport was closed afterward, and events at the show were canceled because of the weather, the show's organizers say.

The doctor loved the Mohawk plane that was built for battle and first used in the Vietnam War, according to nj.com. He had the names of missing soldiers from that war added onto the fuselage.

Walker once told NJ Advance Media that the plane was the world’s "first flying monument.”

“This was our thank you to these men and women, our way to say that they are not forgotten,” Walker told the publication.