A New Jersey mayor says he does not believe anyone was injured on the ground after a plane crashed in a residential neighborhood and set two houses on fire.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the twin-engine Cessna 414 crashed into a house in the Colonia section of Woodbridge Township at 11 a.m. on Oct. 29.
Authorities say the flight had left Leesburg, Va., with only the pilot aboard. It was headed to Linden Airport, about 4 miles from the crash site. There is no word on the pilot’s condition.
Mayor John McCormac says that a woman in one of the houses escaped injury and that no one was in the other house.
“There was nobody home at the time, which was very fortunate. There was a car in the driveway, so everybody thought somebody was home, but nobody was home, they confirmed with the owner,” added McCormac. “Right now, we don’t believe any civilians on the ground were impacted by the crash.”
A video posted by Michael Yonone shows firefighters trying to put out a blaze at one house in the residential area.
Around 200 firefighters from nine different local firehouses have responded to the scene, the report said.
The weather was misty at the time of the crash. Mayor McCormac says the fires are under control.
A neighbor, who was not named, told News 4 that the plane was flying low when it went down.
“It sounded really low, it started to sputter a little bit,” he said. “All of a sudden, there was this huge explosion, or just this big bang, louder than any car crash I’ve ever heard.”
Colonia section of woodbridge twp 2nd alarm…80 Berkley Ave…plane crash into home…2 structures involved in fire
— NorthJersey FireNews (@NJFires) October 29, 2019
The crash occurred about 4 miles from the Linden Airport, McCormac told another news outlet.
“The plane is in the back of the house,” McCormac told the New Jersey Star-Ledger newspaper. “You can’t see the plane from the street. It’s still apparently lodged in the house. The lady next door got out safely.”
News12 in New Jersey reported that several streets in the area were closed due to the fires.
Reports have also said that the power and gas were both turned off in the area.
The cause of the crash is not clear.
The Associated Press and Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips contributed to this report.