Pilot Recovering As Investigation Into Small Plane Crash In Bayonne Continues
BAYONNE, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Long Island pilot remained hospitalized late Monday afternoon, after his plane crashed into a residential neighborhood in Bayonne, Nw Jersey.
Authorities say the pilot of the small plane encountered mechanical issues just before it went down. But federal officials late Monday were still probing the crash that occurred shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday in Bayonne.
PHOTOS: Small Plane Crashes In Bayonne
As CBS2's Erin Logan reported, people who live on E Street in Bayonne said even though it looked like things were getting back to normal Monday, they were still shaken up.
It was a chaotic scene Sunday morning when the plane crashed and landed upside down right in front of Ilonka Rodriguez's home. The scenario played over and over in Rodriguez's mind.
"I'm the first one coming out and I tried to help the guy, but I couldn't go outside. There were lots of wires," she said. "I think I still can't believe it."
Neither could another neighbor who did not want to show his face...but, he showed us surveillance video from his nearby business.
"When I looked at the surveillance video, I saw the plane hit at like 10:08, and (the video) stopped because of the surge from when the plane hit the cable line," he said.
But the neighbor said the video stopped right at the point of a flash that was seen right at 10:08 a.m. That was right when the plane went down in front of Rodriguez's home, destroying cars and taking down power lines.
Sections of one of the wings fell on the pavement inches from the pumps at a gas station across the street. A Jeep is seen turning left just seconds before the crash, narrowly escaping.
That gas station and Rodriguez's landlord also have surveillance video. Rodriguez also captured cellphone video seconds after hearing the loud boom in her living room as the Piper PA-28 crashed down.
Rodriguez said before she knew it, first responders arrived and eventually pulled George Pettway, 56, from the plane. He was seen on a stretcher being taken to the hospital.
Pettway suffered broken ribs and numerous contusions and abrasions.
"Thank God no one got hurt and the pilot is OK," said the neighbor who did not want to be identified.
The plane had departed from an airport in East Farmingdale earlier Sunday. Authorities say Pettway encountered the issues while flying near the Statue of Liberty and was making a detour when he crashed not far from a gas station.
There was no word on when Pettway was expected to be out of the hospital. The Federal Aviation Administration was still investigating late Monday.
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