Fourteen of the 15 people on board a skydiving aircraft are being treated for injuries after the small plane crashed at Cross Keys Airport in Williamstown, New Jersey, on Wednesday, Andrew Halter, of the Gloucester County Office of Emergency Management, said, APA reports citing CBS NEWS.
Just before 5:30 p.m., crews were dispatched for a downed aircraft at the Cross Keys Airport on North Tuckahoe Road, Halter said, and emergency responders declared a mass casualty incident after they arrived.
Three people who were critically injured were flown by a medical helicopter to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey, Halter said. Eight other injured people on the plane were also taken to Cooper Hospital, and three additional people were taken by ambulance to Inspira Medical Center in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. One person refused treatment at the scene, and the pilot was among the injured, according to Halter.
Several of the people injured were covered in jet fuel after the crash, Halter said.
Halter said emergency crews did a mass casualty training exercise at Cross Keys Airport recently, and he believes that played a role in the response.
"It's amazing at this point that there are no fatalities reported," Halter said. "There are some injuries reported to be severe or critical. Again, people received tremendous medical treatment on scene, a joint effort between police officers, firefighters and EMS crews who first arrived at the scene."
Halter said the people on board the aircraft were set to go skydiving, but the pilot reported engine trouble after taking off.
The pilot then tried circling back around and attempted to land but was unsuccessful. Emergency crews on the scene could be seen around a wooded area where the plane had crashed. Officials declined to comment on how high the plane got before crashing.
According to FlightAware, the small plane, a Cessna 208B, took off from Cross Keys Airport at 5:19 p.m. and was only in the air for four minutes.
The crash is under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Monroe Township Police Department and the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.
The plane is still at the scene of the crash, and crews will be investigating at the scene through the night, according Halter.
