Woodbridge Plane Crash: Report Depicts Minutes Before Impact

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Federal investigators still do not know what caused a Cessna 414 aircraft to crash land through the roof of a suburban Colonia home two weeks ago. However, the initial investigation report on the incident, released Friday by the National Transportation Safety Board, released a timeline of pilot Michael Schloss' last minutes.

Hearing the report, an amateur pilot interviewed by Patch said he thought it sounded like one of the plane's two engines failed, as Schloss slowed down dramatically before landing.

At 10:58 a.m. on October 29, the 6-seat, multi-engine plane was destroyed when it flew into the back of a home and surrounding trees at 84 Berkley Avenue in the Colonia section of Woodbridge. The pilot, Schloss, 74, a retired cardiologist, was alive at the time of impact, according to preliminary autopsy results confirmed by a spokesman for Woodbridge Township.

He had soot in his lungs, an indication he was still breathing when his small plane took an abrupt nosedive down and crash landed. His heart also showed no distress signs, ruling out the idea that he suffered a heart attack behind the wheel, as the manager of the Linden Airport speculated.

Preliminary air traffic control communications provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed that Schloss was communicating with New York Approach during his arrival into the Linden area.

Schloss was given a recent pilot report for cloud ceilings and was cleared for landing at Linden.

There were no distress calls made from the cockpit during the approach, said the NTSB. You can read the entire report here.

A timeline of the minutes before the crash:

At 10:53 a.m. the airplane began its initial descent and the flight track turned to a northeast heading that was consistent with the final approach course towards Linden.

At 10:57 a.m., the airplane was about 2.25 nautical miles away, at an altitude of 400 feet, and a groundspeed of 90 knots. Schloss then slowed his groundspeed to 80 knots.

Twelve seconds later, the altitude (still about 400 feet off the ground) and the course continued to remain constant, but the groundspeed further slowed to 70 knots.

Eleven seconds later, at 10:58 a.m., the airplane descended to 375 feet off the ground, turned left to 050°, and the groundspeed slowed to 66 knots.

The flight track subsequently continued to the left, which was northwest, and the altitude continued to descend.

At 10:58 a.m., the last flight track data point was received, the airplane was only at 175 feet off the ground, but still going extremely fast, at 82 knots groundspeed.

Seconds later, Schloss made fatal impact with the home at 84 Berkley Avenue.

Eyewitness to crash reports what he saw

A witness, who was in his car located about 200 feet from the Berkley Avenue accident site, told NTSB investigators that he heard a loud noise coming from behind him that kept getting louder and louder.

He slowed his car and looked out his left window, where he observed the airplane in a steep left
bank, about 80 feet above the ground, flying west. He then watched as the airplane flew into first a tree and then the house. He described the engine noise as "extremely loud."

People as far as three miles away in neighboring Edison said they could hear the "boom" of the crash when the plane hit the house. Neighbors who live nearby in Colonia said their own homes shook with the impact.

Heartbreaking radio transmissions from the doomed plane uploaded to LiveATC.net depict Schloss sounding relaxed and calm, as he discussed weather conditions and prepared for landing at Linden.

"November959MikeJuliet New York approach. Are you familiar with the cancellation procedures when you do break out?" the control tower said. (The plane's registration number, or number on the tail of the aircraft, was N959MJ.)

(This is terminology for flying using only instruments in bad visibility. "Cancellation procedures" means letting the control tower know the plane has safely landed or is very close to landing. "Break out" means the pilot broke out of the cloud cover and can see the ground.)

"No problem," replied Schloss. "I'll cancel with you as soon as I have the airport in site."

"Sounds good," the tower replied. "Proceed direct Linden."

Later the tower said: "November959MikeJuliet, you're gonna maintain 2,000. Commence the approach. And uh, as always let me know when you're able to cancel." (Inform the tower he landed.)

"November959MikeJuliet, almost home," the pilot replied.

Minutes later, he crashed.

Related: Pilot Was Alive At Impact In Woodbridge Plane Crash: Report