Police: 4 dead, 1 missing in plane crash at NJ airport; witness says plane was about to land

Police: 4 dead, 1 missing in mid-NJ plane crash

WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A small plane preparing to land broke apart and nose-dived into a snowy field alongside a runway Monday, a witness reported. Four people are dead and one missing after the crash, which happened in an affluent section of the state, officials said.

The crash was reported at 3:45 p.m. Monday at Monmouth Executive Airport, about 35 miles east of Trenton, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters. The weather was overcast, but no precipitation was falling.

There’s “a very large debris field” at the airport, Peters said.

Capt. Tim Clayton of the Wall Township police said authorities have identified four bodies. The names of the victims were not immediately released.

Peters said the plane was a Cessna 337 Skymaster, a make known in aviation circles as a “Push Me, Pull You” because its twin engines are located in the nose and behind the fuselage. It was registered to Jack Air LLC, a Wilmington, Del., company. A telephone listing for the company was not immediately available.

Peters said the National Transportation Safety Board would be the lead agency in the investigation into the cause of the crash.

Dana McNally, 39, of Wall, told the Asbury Park Press of Neptune that she witnessed the crash. McNally said it appeared the pilot was coming in for a landing and attempted to abort. But something — possibly the tail of the plane — broke off, she said. The plane veered to the right and nose-dived into a snowy field alongside a runway, McNally said.

“It hit face first,” McNally said. “It just went right in (to the field) nose first.”

Wayne Matichuk, 43, of Wall Township, was among a group on a sledding hill when he saw the plane coming in low.

Matichuk told The Star-Ledger of Newark that the plane did not have its landing gear down, and “it seemed like he was going side to side.”

The pilot pulled up and “a piece of the plane fell off,” Matichuk said. Then the right wing dipped and the plane rolled over before crashing upside-down into the ground, he said.

The plane crashed upside-down into the ground, he said.

“It was so surreal. After it happened, every one of us turned around and said, ‘Did that really just happen?’” said Matichuk.

The airport, formally known as Allaire Airport, is located near the Jersey shore. Monmouth County is a largely affluent area of central New Jersey that is home to many business executives, upscale seashore communities and entertainers, including Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi.