5 Still Hospitalized After Skydiving Plane Crash In South Jersey

MONROE TOWNSHIP, NJ — Several people remain hospitalized a few days after a skydiving plane crashed in South Jersey, but their conditions are improving, according to a hospital spokesperson.

Fourteen people were hospitalized after the plane crashed into a wooded area Wednesday at Cross Keys Airport in Monroe Township. Their injuries ranged from minor to critical.

Eight people were admitted to Cooper University in Camden, including three patients in Trauma Intensive Care, said Cooper Health spokesperson Wendy Marano.

Five of them remained hospitalized in "fair condition" as of late Monday, Marano told Patch. None of them are in the critical-care unit any longer, and all have made progress.

Three people injured in the crash have been discharged from Cooper.

The aircraft experienced engine issues shortly after taking off for the skydiving excursion, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The pilot made an emergency landing but couldn't get it to stop on the runway, sending the plane into a wooded area.

Officials called it a "mass-casualty incident," meaning it required such a large emergency response that it strained local first-responding resources. But all 15 people aboard the plane survived.

One person refused treatment at the scene.

Skydive Cross Keys, a private business, operates out of the 280-acre airport.

The plane that crashed was a Cessna 208B — a small, utility aircraft.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.