Lumberton, New Jersey: Pilot Hospitalized After Small Plane Crashes on Takeoff From Flying W Airport

A takeoff that ended in a field

A small plane crashed in an open field moments after taking off from Flying W Airport in Lumberton Township, Burlington County, on Friday morning, October 23, and the pilot, the only person on board, was taken to a hospital, officials and local stations reported.

The Cherry Hill Courier-Post reported that Lumberton Township police were sent just after 9 a.m. on October 23 to the area of 107 Fostertown Road for a report of a plane crash. The plane was later confirmed to have taken off from Flying W Airport, which is at 60 Fostertown Road, and to have crashed shortly after takeoff. FOX 29 reported that the plane left the airport just before 9:30 a.m., according to police at the scene, and came down near the Medford Township line.

NBC10 reported that the crash was reported around 9:30 a.m. in an open field near the north end of the runway at Flying W Airport and Resort, a private airport listed as N14. A dispatcher told the station that the aircraft caught fire. The station's SkyForce 10 helicopter showed one person being airlifted to a hospital and first responders gathered around wreckage that had broken into several pieces.

The pilot's condition

FOX 29 reported that the pilot was conscious and talking after the crash and that no other injuries were reported. A compilation of the Philadelphia area coverage published on Friday reported that Lumberton police Lieutenant Christopher Cheesman told reporters the aircraft had caught fire and was still smoldering, that the flames had destroyed the front end of the plane, and that the pilot was conscious and alert when a helicopter carried the pilot to a hospital. Officials had not released the pilot's name or condition on Friday.

The same compilation, citing the Philadelphia Inquirer, identified the aircraft as a Piper PA-28 and reported that the Federal Aviation Administration said nobody else was aboard. An airport employee told the Inquirer that the plane never climbed properly and seemed to lose engine power before the pilot banked left toward a field in an attempt to land. That account is one person's early description of what was seen at the airport. It is not an official finding, and investigators had not determined a cause on Friday.

Road closure and investigation

The Courier-Post reported that Fostertown Road was temporarily closed after the crash, from Main Street, County Route 541, to Church Road in Medford, and that police asked drivers to seek another route.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash, the Courier-Post reported, and the Inquirer and NBC10 reported that the same two agencies are handling the probe. The Orbit Post will update this story when investigators release the pilot's name, an update on the pilot's condition, or any early finding on why the plane went down.