Small skydiving plane with 15 on board crashes in New Jersey; no casualties

The skydiving aircraft Cessna 208B overshot the runway at Cross Keys Airport, approximately 33.8 kilometers southeast of Philadelphia. Local administration is calling it a 'mass casualty incident'

At least 15 people were injured and taken to the hospital after a small skydiving aircraft went off the end of a runway at an airport in southern New Jersey, United States, and crashed into nearby woods on Wednesday evening.

 

The incident occurred at the Cross Keys Airport, approximately 33.8 kilometers southeast of Philadelphia. The skydiving aircraft involved a Cessna 208B, the Associated Press reported, citing a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration said that the investigation is currently underway. Aerial footage of the aircraft showed it in a wooded area, with pieces of debris flying nearby. Firetrucks and emergency services vehicles soon reached the crash site.

 

Wendy A Marano, a spokesperson for the Cooper University Hospital’s trauma centre in Camden, New Jersey, said at least three people were being evaluated and eight others with less severe injuries were being treated in the emergency department. The spokesperson said four more patients with minimal injuries are waiting to be evaluated further, adding that the members of the hospital’s EMS and trauma department were at the crash site. 

 

Calling it a “mass casualty incident”, Gloucester County Emergency Management warned people to avoid the area on its Facebook page in order to let emergency vehicles access the crash site. 

According to the report, Cross Keys Airport had no information about the crash.

 

In a separate incident, another skydiving plane carrying 20 people crashed in Tennessee on June 8. According to a report in People, the plane crashed soon after it left Tullahoma Regional Airport around 12.30 pm local time on Sunday. No casualties were reported in the Tennessee crash, with people suffering some minor injuries, the report added, citing Lyle Russell, a spokesperson for the city of Tullahoma.

 

The spokesperson added, “The plane involved was a skydiving plane, a DeHaviland DH-6 Twin Otter. No ground facilities or airport facilities were damaged, and there were no injuries were reported from the ground.” The crash came amid heightened scrutiny of plane safety in the US after a series of private and commercial crashes in 2025.