Pilot Rescued After Plane Crashes Into Trees In Manville

MANVILLE, NJ — A pilot stuck in a plane that crashed into trees about 70 feet up has been rescued, authorities said as of 4:10 p.m. Tuesday.

"Pilot in crash has been safely removed from the plane and is being taken to an area hospital for monitoring," according to the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.

It took about four hours to rescue the pilot, a 33-year-old man from Somerset, who crashed into the trees between the Millstone River in Manville and Wilhousky Street shortly after noon on Tuesday.

Due to the location of the crash, authorities could not get a truck with a ladder into the area to rescue the pilot. Instead, they worked manually to get the pilot down, Manville Police Lt. John Crater said.

Keiling Tree Care out of Basking Ridge provided authorities with a track spider lift that ran off a track and had a maximum reach of 87 feet in the air, Crater said.

Rescue members were able to use the lift to get to the pilot. He was uninjured but taken to the hospital for monitoring as a precaution, Crater said.

The pilot was the only person in the plane at the time of the crash.

The pilot had initially gone to Central Jersey Regional Airport in Hillsborough to rent a Cessna 172 single-engine plane on Tuesday morning. Soon after take off, the pilot experienced mechanical failures, Crater said.

The pilot was trying to land at the Central Jersey Regional Airport in Hillsborough when the plane’s engine stalled shortly after noon and he crashed, Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson said.

Police had been able to talk with the pilot over his cell phone to check in on his condition, Crater said.

Manville Police Officers, in addition to police officers from several surrounding towns, all worked together to free the pilot from the plane.

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