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Family of Four Escapes Plane After It Runs Off New Jersey Airport Runway Into Lake

This is the second crash in over a year to take place at the airport

What to Know

  • Family managed to safely escape after plane they were traveling in ran off end of runway in NJ airport and into nearby lake, official says
  • The incident, involving a Cessna C172 aircraft, occured at the Aeroflex-Andover Airport in Andover Township Friday around 1 p.m., FAA says
  • The family was traveling from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Morristown, New Jersey, when their flight was diverted due to an TFR

A family of four managed to safely escape after the plane they were traveling in ran off the end of a runway of a New Jersey airport and into a lake, a law enforcement official says.

The incident, involving a Cessna C172 aircraft, occurred at the Aeroflex-Andover Airport in Andover Township, Friday around 1 p.m., according to the FAA.

Andover Police Chief Eric Danielson said the family was traveling from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Morristown, New Jersey, when their flight was diverted to the Aeroflex-Andover Airport because of a temporary flight restriction issued due to President Donald Trump's New Jersey arrival.

Danielson said the pilot did not correctly estimate the length of the runway and so the aircraft eventually ran off and ended up in the lake situated at the end of the runway.

The family of four, which includes two children and were the sole passengers of the aircraft, managed to escape the plane safely, Danielson said. A nearby fisherman motored his boat to the scene, rescuing the family, according to Danielson. The aircraft subsequently became submerged entireley in 18 to 24 feet of water after the rescue.

Photos from the scene showed an orange flotation device outlining where the aircraft went down. The plane was later pulled out of the water before any oil was leaked.

This is the second crash in over a year to take place at the airport. In April 2018, when a pilot was taking off, he ran off the runway and was eventually rescued.

The FAA and local authorities are investigating the incident.

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