What Made A Skydiving Plane Crash In South Jersey? Feds Release Initial Findings

MONROE, NJ — Shortly after a skydiving flight took off from Cross Keys Airport, the airplane showed that the engine failed. The plane approached the runway fast, ran off the asphalt and crashed into a wooded area earlier this month, federal officials said Thursday.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary findings on the July 2 plane crash that injured 15 people in South Jersey.

The aircraft — a single-engine Cessna 208B — departed at 5:14 p.m. that day. As the plane gained altitude, one of its pilots reported a loss of engine power, the NTSB said. It was 3,000 feet above sea level at that point.

The pilot attempted to glide the airplane back to Runway 27. But the plane continued past the runway and jetted through a wooded area.

"The airplane approached the runway fast, floated, and touched down near the end," the three-page report says. "It traveled off the end of the runway and collided with trees about 700 ft beyond the runway. It then traveled about 250 ft through the trees, coming to rest upright."

Fifteen people were hurt, including 12 with serious injuries. Neither pilot could initially provide a statement to investigators because of their injuries, the NTSB said.

The wings and the plane's main body showed substantial damage, while three of four propellers separated during the crash. But the pilots' five-point harnesses and all 17 harnesses on the bench seats remained intact, the NTSB said.

Rescue personnel cut some of the harnesses to extricate victims.

After a cursory examination of the TPE331 engine, it's unclear what caused it to fail, the NTSB said. It was prepared for shipment to a manufacturing facility for further teardown examination.

The airplane had one prior flight that day, taking off at 4:23 p.m. for an "uneventful" 18-minute flight, the NTSB said.

Before the first flight, the plane was fueled with 44.9 gallons, bringing its fuel load to 800 pounds. It began the accidental flight with 700 pounds of fuel, the NTSB said.

A malfunction display was recovered from the cockpit.

Although no deaths were reported, the crash was labeled a mass-casualty incident because of the number of injured victims and the strain on local first-responding resources.

Of the injured parties, eight people were admitted to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, including three in intensive care.

Five remained hospitalized several days after the crash but were making progress, a Cooper spokesperson told Patch on July 8. None of the remaining patients were in intensive care by that time.

The spokesperson was looking into whether any of them were still hospitalized as of this writing.

Several others were brought to Inspira Hospital, while one person refused treatment at the scene.

The plane was owned by Arne Aviation LLC and was leased to Skydive Cross Keys in Gloucester County.

The NTSB's report is only preliminary, and the agency tried to complete investigations within two years of an incident.