Details, Photos Of How NJ Trapped Pilot, Plane Rescued

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Keiling Tree Care of Basking Ridge is sharing some amazing photos and details about the rescue effort of a pilot — who crashed and got trapped in a tree about 70 feet up in Manville — last week and how they were able to bring down the plane.

A 33-year-old Somerset man went to Central Jersey Regional Airport in Hillsborough to rent a Cessna 172 single-engine plane on Tuesday, Sept. 24. Soon after take off, the pilot experienced mechanical failures, Manville Police Lt. John Crater said.

The pilot was trying to land at the airport when the plane's engine stalled shortly after noon and he crashed in the woods in Manville. Authorities were having trouble getting to the pilot who was stuck in a tree 72 feet in the air. A truck with a ladder was unable to get to him due to the dense trees.

Keith Keiling, owner of Keiling Tree Care, heard the commotion on his radio and sent a text message to the township fire chief letting him know that he might be able to help using a new lift he had just purchased 3 months prior for tree work.

The spider lift bucket truck can extend 87 feet into the air and runs on tracks, similar to those on the side of a tank, making it able to traverse tough terrain.

"This can go places that trucks can’t," Keiling said.

Keiling was called down to the scene around 2 p.m. and walked through an area cleared by firefighters to see if he could maneuver the lift to the pilot.

"It was definitely doable with the equipment we had so we started bringing it in," Keiling said.

Keiling’s brother Bobby went into the bucket and began sawing branches out of the way to clear a path for the lift and rescue efforts. It took about 20 minutes before he was able to speak to the pilot briefly and tell him that he was going to go down to the ground and have a rescue technician come back up to do the rescue.

The lift can hold a maximum of 400 pounds at that height and taking into account the pilot’s and rescue member’s weight, there wasn’t an issue.

Bobby Keiling then operated the bucket using a remote from the ground.

"He was able to carefully position the bucket within 6 inches of the plane to allow the rescuer to get a safety harness on the pilot and help him climb out of the plane and into the bucket," Keiling said.

The pilot had been stuck in the plane for more than four hours from the time he crashed until the time he was rescued. From the time that Keiling Tree Care was requested to respond to the scene to when they had him on the ground was just over 2 hours.

"I was told that the pilot was so frightened to move while inside the plane that he did not attempt to reach for a water bottle that was within his sight," Keiling said.

The pilot was uninjured but taken to the hospital for monitoring as a precaution, Crater said.

"I was just glad to be able to get the equipment to the plane and able to get the pilot down to the ground safely," Keiling said.

Keiling was then asked to return to the area on Friday, Sept. 27 to help get the plane to the ground.

Bobby Keiling helped install straps to the plane so that a large crane could hoist it out of the tree and set it on the ground.

• See Related: Pilot Rescued After Plane Crashes Into Trees In Manville

As part of Stumpy's Hatchet House in Green Brook's new Hero of the Month program, they are going to award Keiling Tree Care for their work in rescuing the pilot for the month of October.

Stumpy's created the award in September after they heard of Barry Whalen's incredible and heroic story of saving an unconscious woman's life by pulling her from a burning car following a crash on I-78 in Basking Ridge in early September.

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