8 remain hospitalized from skydiving plane's crash shortly after takeoff from New Jersey airport
The single engine Cessna 208B radioed about having engine trouble after takeoff and crashed on landing Wednesday evening near Cross Keys Airport, about 21 miles (34 kilometers) southeast of Philadelphia, authorities said. A initial report posted Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft, with 14 passengers and one crew member, 'crashed while returning to the airport after a runway excursion into trees.'
Cooper University Hospital spokesperson Wendy A. Marano said all eight of the patients there suffered blunt force trauma, including injuries to their extremities and soft tissue damage.
A woman working at Skydive Cross Keys, which leases the plane involved in the crash, said the company would likely have a statement later Thursday.
'The plane did try to circle back and attempt a landing we are told but was unsuccessful in that attempt,' Andrew Halter, with Gloucester County Emergency Management, said during a news conference Wednesday night.
The plane was severely damaged, Halter said, and some of those on board were covered in jet fuel and had to be decontaminated before being taken to the hospital.
'Just the fact that we have 15 people that are still with us here today, some with minor injuries, I think is fantastic and remarkable,' he said.
Aerial footage of the crashed plane shows it in the woods, with several pieces of debris nearby. Firetrucks and other emergency vehicles surrounded the scene.
Halter said the aircraft is owned and operated by ARNE Aviation out of Virginia and leased to Skydive Cross Keys. A message seeking comment was left Thursday morning for ARNE Aviation.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a post on the social platform X that it is investigating the crash.
___
Associated Press reporter Mark Scolforo contributed from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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San Francisco Chronicle
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- San Francisco Chronicle
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A problematic history The military controls about 5% of Hawaii's land, including bases for all branches. It has programs and staff to protect endangered and threatened species, prevent fires, and plant native plants. But past incidents have made many Native Hawaiians skeptical. The Navy turned the island of Kahoolawe, off Maui, into a bombing range after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The Navy returned it in 1994 after years of protests. But subsequent cleanup efforts have been incomplete. Live grenades and bombs remain scattered across a quarter of the island. Memories are still fresh from when the Navy spilled jet fuel into Pearl Harbor's drinking water from a network of underground fuel storage tanks and pipes in 2021. The leak prompted 6,000 people to seek medical care for rashes, nausea and other ailments and contaminated a Honolulu aquifer. The disaster occurred after admirals spent years dismissing community calls to move the tanks. On Tuesday, Honolulu's water utility sued the Navy seeking to recoup an estimated $1.2 billion that it has had to spend because of the spill. Also on Oahu, environmental advocates say Army live-fire training in Makua Valley sparked wildfires and destroyed native forestland and sacred cultural sites. A legal settlement stopped such training in 2004. The cultural significance of Pohakuloa Pohakuloa consists of rocky plains, hills and brush about 6,200 feet (1,900 meters) above sea level between the Big Island's tallest volcanoes, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. It hosts endangered species including the Hawaiian catchfly shrub. Early Hawaiians ventured across the plateau to reach a Mauna Kea quarry that produced high-quality basalt for stone tools and to travel between coastal towns. In 2022, Army staff discovered ancient wooden 'kii,' or figures, in a lava tube, an underground passageway created by molten rock. 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USA Today
2 hours ago
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Hamilton Spectator
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US military's attempt to retain strategic land for training runs into Native Hawaiian opposition
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A problematic history The military controls about 5% of Hawaii's land, including bases for all branches. It has programs and staff to protect endangered and threatened species, prevent fires, and plant native plants. But past incidents have made many Native Hawaiians skeptical. The Navy turned the island of Kahoolawe, off Maui, into a bombing range after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The Navy returned it in 1994 after years of protests. But subsequent cleanup efforts have been incomplete. Live grenades and bombs remain scattered across a quarter of the island. Memories are still fresh from when the Navy spilled jet fuel into Pearl Harbor's drinking water from a network of underground fuel storage tanks and pipes in 2021. The leak prompted 6,000 people to seek medical care for rashes, nausea and other ailments and contaminated a Honolulu aquifer. The disaster occurred after admirals spent years dismissing community calls to move the tanks. On Tuesday, Honolulu's water utility sued the Navy seeking to recoup an estimated $1.2 billion that it has had to spend because of the spill. Also on Oahu, environmental advocates say Army live-fire training in Makua Valley sparked wildfires and destroyed native forestland and sacred cultural sites. A legal settlement stopped such training in 2004. The cultural significance of Pohakuloa Pohakuloa consists of rocky plains, hills and brush about 6,200 feet (1,900 meters) above sea level between the Big Island's tallest volcanoes, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. It hosts endangered species including the Hawaiian catchfly shrub. Early Hawaiians ventured across the plateau to reach a Mauna Kea quarry that produced high-quality basalt for stone tools and to travel between coastal towns. In 2022, Army staff discovered ancient wooden 'kii,' or figures, in a lava tube, an underground passageway created by molten rock. Consultants said the figures are from human burials, and state preservationists say they're among Hawaii's most significant archaeological finds. Pohakuloa Training Area spans more than 200 square miles (518 square kilometers). The section in question is only 17% of that total, but it's critically located in between two larger federal parcels. Troops fire munitions from the state-owned parcel onto federal lands. The land's importance for training and deterrence Other live-fire training areas in Hawaii are too small to accommodate battalions and brigades. Commanders say it would take too long to send troops, trucks and helicopters to the U.S. mainland for drills. 'What we anticipate in a future fight is that we will not have the time to recover that equipment and to position ourselves back into the region,' said Maj. Gen. James Bartholomees, U.S. Army Pacific chief of staff. Pohakuloa training, he said, allows troops to 'move from Hawaii into the Indo-Pacific, into key terrain, to be prepared to meet our adversaries, or more importantly, to deter them.' The Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force exercise there, as do allied and partner militaries. The Hawaii National Guard accounts for one-quarter of Pohakuloa's training. County fire and police departments use it too. Negotiations to exchange land The Army prepared an environmental impact statement, including public feedback, that analyzed how the military's continued use of the land would affect plants, animals and cultural heritage. On May 9, the state land board rejected it after hearing hours of often emotional testimony in opposition. Among other issues, the board cited inadequate inventory of unexploded ordnance and insufficient inventory of ancient burials and associated artifacts. The Army is considering whether to appeal. It could also negotiate a land exchange with the state instead. Such talks can't begin until the Army finalizes its environmental study with a decision about its plans. The defense secretary's office then must sign off on acquiring land. Alice Roberts, U.S. Army Pacific's program manager for training land retention, said the service has had some informal conversations, including trying to understand the state's swap criteria. Buying the land would be a 'a big hurdle,' for the Army, she said, because two-thirds of the state House and Senate would need to approve such a transaction. U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, a Democrat, said the Army must double down on being good stewards and make up for the military's past mistakes. Tokuda wants the military to help increase Hawaii's housing supply, given that service members occupy 14% of Oahu's housing stock and that high housing costs are driving residents out . She said it could bolster Hawaii's water and sewer infrastructure. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green suggested in an interview with Hawaii News Now that the military could take the land through eminent domain, but Tokuda said she hasn't heard anyone in the military or President Donald Trump's administration mention that. A call for a cleanup Kaialiʻi Kahele, the chairperson of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which advocates for Native Hawaiians, wants to see what federal lands the Army would offer. He wants to know whether it would be willing to reduce the impact of its training, and what sort of clean up and community benefits it would provide. 'We have to get to a point where you do training and then you clean up your mess,' said Kahele, a former congressman who served more than 20 years in the Hawaii Air National Guard and is now in the Air Force Reserve. 'That should be the model of training that respects aina, respects this place and its culture and its people,' he said, using the Hawaiian word for land. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. 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