FAA investigating small plane crash in residential neighborhood in Manville, N.J.
MANVILLE, N.J. -- A small plane crashed dangerously close to homes in a residential neighborhood in New Jersey on Monday. The frightening accident happened in Manville, in Somerset County.
Homeowner John Leoncini said he and his wife were surprised when the plan crashed in front of their home.
"She got scared," Leoncini said.
Witness Mark Kulick told CBS2 he raced outside to see what happened as soon as he heard the plane.
"Exited the back entrance, saw the plane collide with one of the trees back there, saw it come this way, go into the road and then ended up in the yard right there," Kulick said. "I saw smoke, I saw the pilot exiting the plane. He appeared to be uninjured. He was running pretty fast. I smelled engine fuel."
The single-engine plane crashed just feet away from a home on South Main Street. It narrowly missed a car and somehow avoided blocking the roadway.
"I was like, oh my gosh, I hope no one's, I know people who own that house, so I was like 'Oh I hope nobody's hurt,'" Kulick said.
Officials said the plane, a Mooney M20M Turbo, took off from Greensboro, North Carolina. It was scheduled to land at Central Jersey Regional Airport just after noon.
The runway is about two blocks from where the pilot crash landed.
"There was some difficulty with the landing, this is more from witnesses than him. So he tried to take off again. My impression is he never even touched down," Manville Police Det. Lt. John Crater said.
Watch Christina Fan's report
There was significant damage to the engine, but the pilot made it out alive. Paramedics took him to Robert Wood Johnson New Brunswick with non-life threatening injuries.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash.
Meanwhile, neighbors were thankful no homes were hit. But they were not surprised -- it has happened before. Another pilot had to be rescued during a similar incident in 2019.
"That one landed in the trees, across the road here. I believe it was he ran out of gas," neighbor Mike Szymanski said. "It's something you expect. You don't know when, you don't know how bad or how little or anything, but you know they're going to have an accident."
"How they end up crashing all the time, I don't understand it," Leoncini said.
"This is a very busy area in terms of air space, and you do have to be on top of your game when you fly here," said Rylan Uherek, a new pilot.
Power was out in the area for a bit, but it was eventually restored.
According to online records, the plane is owned by the Guthrie Group, a management consulting firm in North Carolina. We have reached out to them to check on the pilot's condition.
