1 Killed In North Jersey Plane Crash: Police

A single-engine airplane missing since Tuesday was found crashed in a wooded area of Sussex County Thursday morning with one occupant dead, New Jersey State Police said.

Civil Air Patrol began looking for the plane, which was reported missing Tuesday, and came across the wreckage around 11 a.m. Thursday off of Unionville Road in Wantage, Sgt. Greg Williams said.

It is not yet known where the plane originated from, where it was headed, or if the deceased occupant was male or female.

The pilot appeared to be the lone occupant, according to Civil Air Patrol Commander Bill Martin.

It appeared the plane was trying to land in a field and hit the tree line, Martin said in a statement.

From the statement:

No missing or overdue aircraft had been reported, Martin said. Search aircraft from the New York Wing launched from Poughkeepsie and initially localized the signal in the vicinity of Sussex Airport in New Jersey. A check of the airport revealed no signal was being received on the ground there. With darkness hampering the search efforts, the search resumed Wednesday, when aircraft and ground teams focused on Unionville Road in Wantage Township. With no sign of a crash being seen from the air, ground teams continued to search the area using electronic direction-finding equipment late into the night before suspending the effort because of to darkness. CAP ground search teams resumed their search this morning and discovered the wreckage about 10:42 a.m.

The National Transit Safety Board is conducting the investigation. The plane has been identified as a Cessna C210.

Check back with Patch for more details.