Pilot Dead After Small Plane Crashes In South Jersey
By Dan Wing, Steve Patterson
WATERFORD, N.J. (CBS) - One person was killed in a plane crash Saturday morning in Camden County, New Jersey, officials say.
Waterford Township Police Chief Daniel Carmoney says the pilot – who has been identified by authorities as 65-year-old David Sees of Marlton -- was the only person on board the Cessna 150 when it crashed in a wooded area off Jackson Road in the Atco section.
Carmoney says police were called to the scene around 11:30 a.m.:
"They weren't sure how many occupants they had at that time. There was some fuel leakage from the fuel tanks at that point. Fire crews were dispatched along with emergency personnel. At some point they confirmed that there was a male inside the plane, obviously deceased."
Carmoney says the plane crashed about 150-feet from a row of homes, meaning things could've been much worse:
"This yard is a large piece of property that goes back and meets with that residential development. Behind there there's a heavily wooded area, that I believe belongs to 626 Jackson, where he actually crashed into the wooded area."
In fact, the plane crashed next to the home of Richard Cravens, who is friends with Sees.
"It's not every day a good friend crashes their plane in your own yard," he tells CBS 3 Eyewitness News.
Cravens says Sees loved to fly, and actually waved to Cravens from his plane before the crash:
"I asked him the last time he was out, I said 'when are you going to take me out on your plane'?"
Police say the plane had taken off from Camden County Airport, which is only about 4.5 miles from the crash site.
Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration are now looking into what caused the crash.