A small plane went down in central New Jersey on Sunday morning and its sole occupant was killed in an impact that one witness said sounded like a bomb explosion.
Air traffic control alerted the Franklin Township Police Department that it had lost contact with a single-engine plane as it flew over the town, Public Safety Director Quovella M. Maeweather said in a statement. New Jersey State Police and other first responders sprang into action with an aerial search, assisted by a drone from the Millstone Valley Fire Department.
The Cirrus SR22 had taken off from Princeton Airport and was flying to Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina, the Federal Aviation Administration said, confirming that “only the pilot was onboard.”
This was about the time that Franklin Township former mayor Chris Kelly heard strange sounds from the air near his home.
“It sounded like an engine faltering and straining to gain altitude,” Kelly told the Franklin Reporter & Advocate. “It sounded like an engine really, really straining, straining, straining, and then a loud, loud bomb — it almost sounded like a bomb went off. It was very, very frightening, and it was very, very close.”
He called police, who later confirmed a plane had indeed crashed about a quarter mile from his house.
The plane was found in a brushy, wooded area just before 1:30 p.m. after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “provided additional information that led to the discovery of the aircraft,” Maeweather said.
One occupant was inside, deceased, police said. The person’s identification was still pending on Monday as authorities notified next of kin.
Police evacuated the area around the crash on Sunday to make sure there was no threat, advising members of the public to steer clear “to ensure the safety of all involved and to avoid interfering with the ongoing investigation.”
The evacuation order was lifted Monday as the investigation continued, led by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
