Skydiving Plane Goes Off New Jersey Runway and Crashes Into Woods, Sending at Least 15 to Hospital
The incident at the Cross Keys Airport about 21 miles (33.8 kilometers) southeast of Philadelphia involved a Cessna 208B carrying 15 people, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson, who said it's under investigation. Aerial footage of the crashed plane shows it in a wooded area with several pieces of debris nearby. Firetrucks and other emergency vehicles surrounded the scene. Three people are being evaluated at Cooper University Hospital's trauma center in Camden, New Jersey, and eight people with less severe injuries are being treated in its emergency department, Wendy A. Marano, a spokesperson for the hospital, said. Four other patients, also with minimal injuries, are waiting for further evaluation, she said. She wasn't able to provide the exact nature of the injuries. Members of the hospital's EMS and trauma department were at the crash site, she said.
A person who answered the phone at Cross Keys Airport on Wednesday said he had no information and referred questions to Skydive Cross Keys, a commercial skydiving business located at the airport. Skydive Cross Keys didn't immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press requesting comment.
Gloucester County Emergency Management warned the public on its Facebook page to avoid the area in order to let emergency vehicles access the site.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
6 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Could this hawaii community be the next lahaina? Some residents fear a similar wildfire fate
WAIANAE, Hawaii (AP) – When there's enough rain, the mountain-framed expanse of vacant land behind Calvin Endo's house looks like the lush and verdant landscape that makes tropical Hawaii famous. But in the summer, when the jungle of eyeball-high invasive grasses and spindly tree branches fade to brown, he fears it could become a fiery hellscape. This isn't Maui, where most of Lahaina burned down during a massive wildfire in August 2023. Endo's duplex is in Waianae, on the west side of Oahu. But Waianae and Lahaina have a lot in common. They're both situated on parched western island coasts with road access pinched by topography and are bastions of Native Hawaiian culture. Both have sections crisscrossed by overhead power lines atop aging wooden poles like those that fell in high winds and caused the Lahaina fire. There's even a Lahaina Street through the heart of Makaha, Endo's neighborhood along the Waianae coast. 'It can happen to us,' said Endo, who moved to the Makaha Meadows subdivision in 1980 soon after it was built. 'We can have a repeat of Lahaina if somebody doesn't do anything about the brush in the back.' In recent days, two wildfires a few miles away–including a July 6 blaze that left a 94-year-old woman dead–proved his worst fears could become reality. It's been nearly two years since Lahaina provided a worst-case scenario of the destruction from wind-whipped flames fueled by overgrown brush. With 102 deaths, it's the deadliest US wildfire in a century. In the months afterward, the number of Hawaii communities participating in the Firewise network–a nationally recognized program that helps communities with resources for safeguarding homes–more than doubled to 35–but none in western Oahu. Even though Waianae residents have long known about their wildfire risks, only now is one of its neighborhoods close to gaining Firewise status. Communities become Firewise by organizing a committee, creating a hazard assessment, developing an action plan, and volunteering hours toward reducing risk, such as removing overgrown brush. Firewise tracks a community's progress, connects residents with experts, and provides ideas and funding for mitigation workshops and training. The US Department of Agriculture Forest Service considers Lahaina and Waianae to be at much higher risk than other US communities for a wildland fire, noted Honolulu Fire Department Battalion Chief Keith Ito. 'The weather, the winds–they're pretty much identical,' he said. 'With all that being said, I think that the high-risk wildfire potential is a state-wide problem, not really specific to Waianae or Lahaina.' Nani Barretto, co-director of the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, struggles to understand why fire-prone communities like Waianae have yet to join the Firewise movement. There are also no Firewise communities on the island of Kauai. 'Just because we are proactive in getting the word out, it doesn't mean the right people are getting the information,' she said. 'For Maui, it took a very devastating event for them to join.' Organizing a community can be challenging because it requires residents to put in time and step up as leaders, she said. Endo, who is a longtime member of the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board, had never even heard of Firewise until recently. A development called Sea Country near the neighborhood that was recently ordered to evacuate during a wildfire is close to becoming the fist Firewise community in Waianae, said Andria Tupola, a resident who also represents the coast on the Honolulu City Council. The process got underway around 2018 but picked up momentum after Lahaina, she said. Sea Country recently completed a hazard assessment and has planned some mitigation events including a park cleanup in August, said Ashley Bare, the Firewise support specialist for Oahu. Lahaina also provided the spark for opening an emergency access route in Waianae, Tupola said. Farrington Highway, the main artery along the coast, can get clogged with just an accident. Military officials who control a mountain pass above Waianae started talking about letting civilians access the route after Lahaina, she said. During the July 6 fire, state and military officials were ready to open the road as a way out of the coast and into central Oahu, said state Rep. Darius Kila, who represents the area. A Hawaiian homestead community in Waianae's Nanakuli Valley is also trying to achieve Firewise status, said Diamond Badajos, spokesperson for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. Home to the largest concentration of Native Hawaiians, Waianae is rich in Hawaiian culture and history. But much of the coast also struggles with poverty and homelessness. Residents have grown accustomed to wildfires in the dry summer months, said Republican state Rep. Chris Muraoka: 'It's almost like if it doesn't burn, something's not right.' However, Muraoka said he thinks communities along the coast would benefit more from fire-prevention and safety education in schools rather than organizing to be Firewise. Muraoka, who lives in Makaha, said communities in Waianae have unique needs that being Firewise might not address, including sections with neighborhoods that are more spread out than in Lahaina and blazes that are often started by arsonists or kids playing with fire. Some residents already do what they can, especially with the dry season underway. Endo often tries to clear brush on private property behind his home himself to create a firebreak. Some properties in Waianae Valley use sheep to eat the overgrown vegetation. Retired firefighter Shermaih Bulla Iaea recalls fighting blazes in the brush near Endo's home and Makaha Elementary School. In 2018, his farm burned down during high winds from a passing hurricane. He was using a herd of sheep on his property until wild dogs killed them in April. Neighborhoods banding together to become Firewise is another tool that will help, he said. 'There's a 100 percent chance that will happen here,' he said. 'I thought it would never happen to me. Now I'm trying to ring the bells. I'm trying to sound the alarm.' Being one of the poorest communities in the state is a major factor preventing Waianae from becoming Firewise, said Kila, who lives near where the July 6 fire happened. Before the summer, the Democratic lawmaker sent a letter to Hawaiian Electric and telecom companies urging immediate and coordinated action to address dangerous sagging utility lines on aging wooden poles along the coast. It's not clear why Makaha ended up with a long street named Lahaina, which can mean 'relentless sun' in Hawaiian. But like the west Maui town, it fits the sunny west Oahu neighborhood, which is home to the world-famous Makaha surfing beach. Some neighborhoods above Lahaina Street are newer and have underground utilities like Endo's. But toward the ocean, older neighborhoods are laced by overhead power lines. That worries Glen Kila, a Hawaiian cultural practitioner in Waianae who is not related to Darius Kila. Power lines are blamed for sparking the Lahaina blaze. 'If that happens to Waianae,' he said, 'we're done.'
Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
KSrelief extends fire aid to 600 families in Syrian villages, distributes winter kits in Pakistan
DAMASCUS: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center has expanded its emergency response operations, delivering critical assistance to fire-affected communities in Syria while simultaneously addressing winter shelter needs for displaced populations in Pakistan. Relief workers distributed emergency supplies to 600 families impacted by fires across rural Latakia province in Syria, reaching 13 villages: Al-Midan, Aysha Banar, Shaqraa, Beit Fares, Beit Awan, Al-Husainiya, Al-Ramadiya, Al-Rawda, Qastal Maaf, Al-Tamima, Beit Sheikh Wali, Beit Al-Wadi and Beit Hussein. In parallel operations, the center provided 2,012 emergency shelter kits to vulnerable populations across Kashmir region in Pakistan, reaching 14,921 people through its 2025 shelter materials and winter supplies distribution program. The operations form part of Saudi Arabia's broader humanitarian framework, delivered through the center's established networks, to support affected communities globally.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
31 workers have been safely removed after part of an industrial tunnel in LA collapsed
LOS ANGELES: Thirty-one workers have been safely removed from an industrial tunnel under construction in Los Angeles after part of it collapsed on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. The collapse occurred 5 to 6 miles (8 to 9.7 kilometers) from the tunnel's sole entrance in an industrial section of the city. Aerial footage from local television showed workers being lifted up through the tunnel's entrance. Some workers on the other side of the collapsed portion of the tunnel scrambled over a 12 to 15-foot-tall (19.3 to 24.1-meter-tall) mound of loose soil and reached several coworkers on the other side. The workers were then shuttled several at a time by tunnel vehicle to the opening. Paramedics were evaluating 27 of the workers removed from the tunnel. The tunnel is under construction to eventually carry wastewater. It's 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide, LAFD said. More than 100 LAFD workers were assigned to the scene, including those who specialize in rescues from confined spaces.
