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“The plane did try to circle back and attempt a landing we are
told but was unsuccessful in that attempt,” Andrew Halter, with
Gloucester County Emergency Management, said during a news
conference Wednesday night.
The injuries ranged from minor to critical and the plane was
severely damaged, Halter said. Some of the people on board were
covered in jet fuel and had to be decontaminated before being
taken to the hospital, he said.
“Just the fact that we have 15 people that are still with us
here today, some with minor injuries, I think is fantastic and
remarkable," he said.
Aerial footage of the crashed plane shows it in the woods, with
several pieces of debris nearby. Firetrucks and other emergency
vehicles surrounded the scene.
Three people were being evaluated at Cooper University
Hospital's trauma center in Camden, New Jersey, and eight people
with less severe injuries were being treated in its emergency
department, said Wendy A. Marano, a spokesperson for the
hospital. Four other patients also with “minimal injuries” were
waiting for further evaluation, she said. She wasn’t able to
provide the exact nature of the injuries.
Members of the hospital's EMS and trauma department were at the
crash site, she said.
Halter said the aircraft is owned and operated by ARNE Aviation
out of Virginia and leased to Skydive Cross Keys. Skydive Cross
Keys didn’t immediately respond to an email from The Associated
Press requesting comment. When asked about the crash, Tracey
Sackett, who confirmed she is ARNE Aviation's office manager,
said to call the office tomorrow.
A person who answered the phone at Cross Keys Airport on
Wednesday said he had no information and referred questions to
Skydive Cross Keys.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a post on the
social platform X that it is investigating the crash.
Gov. Phil Murphy said on X that he had been briefed on the crash
and that there had been “no fatalities at this time.”
___
Associated Press reporter Mark Scolforo contributed from
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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