Pilot hurt after small plane crashes on takeoff from Flying W Airport in Burlington County

A pilot was injured Friday morning when a small single-engine plane went down moments after leaving Flying W Airport in Lumberton Township, Burlington County, according to several Philadelphia-area outlets.

The Piper PA-28 came to rest in an open field north of the runway, 6abc and NBC10 reported. Citing the Federal Aviation Administration, the Inquirer and NBC10 said nobody else was aboard. FOX 29 said no other injuries were reported.

Accounts of the timing vary slightly. The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing an airport employee, put the departure at 9:24 a.m., and FOX 29, citing police, said it was just before 9:30 a.m. 6abc and NBC10 placed the crash shortly after 9 a.m. FOX 29 located the site near the Medford Township line, while NBC10 described the airport as being in Medford.

According to NBC10, a Lumberton police lieutenant, Christopher Cheesman, told reporters the aircraft had caught fire and was still smoldering. NBC10 said the flames destroyed the plane's front end, and aerial video from 6abc and NBC10 showed wreckage scattered in several pieces.

The Inquirer, 6abc and NBC10 reported that a helicopter carried the pilot to a hospital. "They were conscious and alert following the crash," Cheesman told the Inquirer. FOX 29 said the pilot was conscious and talking. Officials have not released the pilot's name or current condition.

Investigators have not determined a cause. An airport employee, who the Inquirer said lacked authorization to comment, told that paper the plane never climbed properly and seemed to lose engine power before the pilot banked left toward a field in an attempt to land. The Inquirer and NBC10 said the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are handling the probe.

Flight-tracking data from Flight Radar 24 showed the plane circling the field for roughly six minutes and touching down before departing again and crashing, NBC10 reported. The station added that the aircraft had made trips to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Wildwood, New Jersey, on Thursday.

Per the Inquirer, the plane's registration lists Freeflight Aviation, a flight school operating at the airport; the school did not respond to the paper. Outlets disagreed on the aircraft's capacity: NBC10 called it a two-seater, while the Inquirer said the registered model holds as many as four people.

The Inquirer said the airport shut its runway for a few hours before reopening it. Local roads were also blocked, though descriptions differed: the Inquirer cited a closure of Fostertown Road at Main Street, and NBC10 said Main Street to Church Road would stay shut.

The Inquirer and NBC10 both recalled that country singer Troy Gentry and a pilot died in a 2017 helicopter crash at the same airport.

Compiled by True News from reporting by FOX 29 Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 6abc Action News and NBC10 Philadelphia. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/392