Two people survive New Jersey plane crash

Sunday, April 15, 2012

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Lucy Yang
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By Lucy Yang

LINCOLN PARK, N.J. (WABC) -- Two people escaped with minor injuries when their small plane crashed Sunday in Lincoln Park, New Jersey.

Witnesses say the 2005 Tiger AG5B single engine aircraft bounced off the runway as it came down at Lincoln Park Airport.

It then veered left off the runway and ended up in a tree, where the fuselage broke in two.

Most of the plane eventually became entangled in the tree's branches about 10 feet above the ground.

John Guiliano, who happened to be eating at the Sunset Grill right next to the airport, watched in shock as the plane came in hot and failed to stop in time.

"The plane hit the runway, bounced, went up again like it was going to take off again, but came down," said Guiliano.

"It started veering off left, and it looked it was going to hit a couple of planes," he added. "But it ended up going back up, missing the planes, and crashing into the woods."

The fall from above happened around 3:30 Sunday afternoon.

Officials report the pilot was 59 year old Russell Filbey from Edinburgh, New York.

In the backseat, his sister.

Thankfully neither were seriously injured.

Both were able to evacuate with the help of nearby residents who came racing to the scene.

"There was no fire. There was a fuel leak," said Lincoln Park Fire Chief Sal Marino.

"The one wing as you see that's damaged pretty severely leaked all its fuel. The other wing that's still intact has fuel in it."

The FAA is now investigating the crash.

But another pilot who was there Sunday afternoon told us he believes that the plane was coming in way too fast for a clean landing.

The aircraft has since been removed from the tree so that experts can look for answers in the pieces.

Just two weeks ago another plane crash landed in the same area.

All four people on board survived.