Plane Crashes On Front Lawn Of NJ Home: Police

MANVILLE, NJ — A plane crashed onto the front lawn of a Somerset County home while attempting to land at a nearby airport in Hillsborough on Monday afternoon.

A pilot flying from North Carolina was trying to land at Central Jersey Airport off Millstone River Road when he had "some sort of difficulty," said Manville Lt. John Crater.

"He abandoned the landing and as a result tried to take off again but clipped a tree that spun him around into Manville where he crashed onto the front lawn of a home," said Crater.

Manville Police got the call of the crash in the 900 block of South Main Street at 12:50 p.m. on April 4 and arrived about 90 seconds later, said Crater.

The pilot had already escaped on his own and walked across the street when the police arrived. Police also saw the plane was smoldering with a small fire that extinguished itself, said Crater.

The pilot had a head injury, which was deemed non-life-threatening, as he was responsive to questioning and alert, said Crater.

The plane, a 2006 Mooney M20M, hit a power line during the crash causing an outage in the area. There was some property damage but the plane did not cause any structural damage to any of the houses in the area or cars.

The home, where the plane crash-landed, did have someone inside at the time of the crash.

South Main Street in Manville and Millstone River Road in Hillsborough remain closed as the plane is removed. Afterward, PSE&G will come out to repair the power lines. Crater doesn't expect the roadways to be completely open until sometime after 6 p.m.

Drivers are asked to avoid the area.

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