WILLIAMSTOWN, N.J. (BN24) — A skydiving plane veered off a runway at Cross Keys Airport in Williamstown, New Jersey, on Wednesday, injuring five of the 15 people aboard and prompting local authorities to declare a “mass casualty incident.”
The Gloucester County Office of Emergency Management announced the designation in a Facebook post shortly after 6 p.m., asking residents to avoid the area as emergency crews responded.
The privately owned airfield is well known among skydiving enthusiasts and serves numerous private passenger aircraft.
Federal records show the same plane was involved in a separate runway incident in July 2023 at an airport in Suffolk, Virginia. According to the National Transportation Safety Board’s final report on that crash, the pilot was landing after her fifth skydive flight of the day when the aircraft left the runway.
The NTSB report said that as the plane approached the ground, “the flare seemed insufficient,” leading the nose landing gear to collapse. The aircraft continued off the runway and came to rest in the grass, suffering substantial damage to the engine mounts.
Investigators determined the probable cause was the “pilot’s inadequate landing flare,” and noted the pilot reported no mechanical issues that would have “precluded normal operation.”
Authorities did not immediately release details Wednesday on what caused the latest accident or the conditions of the injured passengers.
