Skydiving plane with 15 onboard crashes on take-off in New Jersey

A skydiving plane with 15 people crashed during take-off at Cross Keys Airport, New Jersey. Photo / 123rf

A skydiving plane carrying 15 people crashed during the early stages of its flight after it went off the end of a runway at a small airport in southern New Jersey today, according to officials.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the crash, which involved a Cessna 208B, occurred at about 5.30pm at Cross Keys Airport in Monroe Township, New Jersey, about 32km southeast of Philadelphia.

Three people with critical injuries were taken to the hospital by a helicopter, according to Andrew Halter of Gloucester County Emergency Management.

A spokesperson for Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey, which has a Level One trauma centre, said trauma surgeons were at the crash scene triaging the victims.

The spokesperson, Wendy Marano, said three people were taken to the hospital’s trauma centre.

Eight others “with less severe injuries” were being treated in the emergency department and four people with “minimal injuries” were in the hospital’s waiting room awaiting care.

The Cessna was leased to Skydive Cross Keys, according to Halter.

He added that the plane had “reported engine trouble prior to the crash”, but the specific cause is still under investigation.

In a post on social media immediately after the crash, Gloucester County Emergency Management urged the public to avoid the area around the airport, citing a “mass casualty incident” after a plane crash. Several agencies were responding, it said.

A Philadelphia news station, 6abc, showed footage of a frenetic emergency response on a rural road, including people being loaded onto stretchers.

On its website, Skydive Cross Keys said it is the “epicentre” of “skydiving in the Northeast.

The company offers tandem skydiving, lessons towards a certification and solo skydiving for those who are licensed, the site says.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Written by: Aishvarya Kavi and Neil Vigdor

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