By Associated Press Owen Boss
Fifteen people were taken to a hospital when a skydiving aircraft went off a runway and crashed in a wooded area near an airport in southern New Jersey on Wednesday evening, according to authorities.
The incident at the Cross Keys Airport, about 21 miles (33.8 kilometers) southeast of Philadelphia, involved a Cessna 208B carrying 15 people, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson, who said it鈥檚 under investigation.
Aerial footage of the crashed plane shows it in a wooded area, with several pieces of debris nearby. Firetrucks and other emergency vehicles surrounded the scene.
Three people are being evaluated at Cooper University Hospital鈥檚 trauma center in Camden, New Jersey, and eight people with less severe injuries are being treated in its emergency department, Wendy A. Marano, a spokesperson for the hospital, said. Four other patients also with 鈥渕inimal injuries鈥 are waiting for further evaluation, she said. She wasn鈥檛 able to provide the exact nature of the injuries.
Members of the hospital鈥檚 EMS and trauma department were at the crash site, she said.
A person who answered the phone at Cross Keys Airport on Wednesday said he had no information and referred questions to Skydive Cross Keys, a commercial skydiving business located at the airport. Skydive Cross Keys didn鈥檛 immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press requesting comment.
Gloucester County Emergency Management warned the public on its Facebook page to avoid the area in order to let emergency vehicles access the site.
Associated Press reporter Mark Scolforo contributed from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
(Copyright (c) 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)