What’s supposed to be the thrill of a lifetime nearly turned into tragedy on Wednesday.
A skydiving plane with 15 people aboard crash-landed in the woods at a New Jersey airport.
But somehow—miraculously—everyone survived.
The Cessna 208B had just taken off from Cross Keys Airport, southeast of Philadelphia, when the pilot reported engine trouble.
He tried to turn back but didn’t make it. The plane plowed off the end of the runway and into the trees around 5:30 p.m.
No Casualties In Early Reports
“It’s amazing that at this point there are no fatalities reported,” said Andrew Halter from Gloucester County Emergency Management.
“The fact that we have 15 people still with us today is fantastic and remarkable.”
Fourteen passengers were taken to hospitals—three in critical condition by helicopter.
Some were soaked in jet fuel and had to be decontaminated on-site.
The plane was leased by a Monroe Township skydiving center and had a rocky history, including a 2023 landing mishap.
As investigators from the FAA and NTSB dig into what went wrong, one question lingers: how did everyone survive such a dramatic crash?
A stroke of luck—or a narrow brush with disaster that could’ve been much worse?
