Fifteen people were taken to hospital when a parachute jumping plane was discharged and crashed into the woods near an airport in southern New Jersey on Wednesday evening, according to the authorities.
The accident at Cross Keys Airport, about 21 miles southeast of Philadelphia, included Sesna 208 B carrying 15 people, according to a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, who said he was under investigation.
Air footage of the shattered plane appears in the forest, with several pieces of nearby debris. FireTrucks and other emergency vehicles surround the scene.
Windy A. Marano, a hospital spokesman, that three people are evaluated at the Shock Center at the Cooper University Hospital in Kamden, New Jersey, and eight people with less severe injuries are treated in the emergency department. She said that four other patients suffer from “minimal injuries” are waiting for more evaluation. She was not able to provide the exact nature of injuries.
She said that members of the EMS department and the shock hospital were at the crash site.
The person who answered the phone at Cross Keys Airport said on Wednesday that he does not have information and referred questions to Skydive Cross Keys, a commercial company to jump with umbrellas at the airport. Skydive Cross Keys did not immediately respond to the Associated Press email request.
The Gloucester Emergency Administration has warned the audience on its Facebook page against avoiding the area in order to allow emergency vehicles to reach the site.
