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Photos by Fritz Rethage -- First post @ 2:00 p.m. on May 31, 2005


Teterboro Air Crash
Twin-engine plane crashes at Teterboro Airport May 31, 2005

First Reports:
A small plane crashed Tuesday about noon at Teterboro Airport injuring the only person on board, authorities said. Airport operations were suspended after the crash.

The plane crashed at the end of a runway (near Moonachie Avenue and Redneck Road), and burst into flames. The blaze was soon extinguished, police said.  The Teterboro fire brigade was first on the scene and units from the Hasbrouck Heights, Moonachie and Wood-Ridge Fire Departments also responded, according to authorities.

The Swearingen twin-engine turboprop was on final approach to the airport when the pilot reported engine problems, the Federal Aviation Administration said. 

Witnesses told The Record newspaper that the turboprop came in over Moonachie Road but teetered before landing and swerving out of control. The right wing of the plane caught on the runway and was ripped from the body of the aircraft, which swereved and then hit a grassy strip nose-first.

According to the aircraft's tail number listed on an FAA Web site, it is registered to Maci Leasing Corp. in Edison. There was no phone listing for the business.

Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, said the pilot was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center. The pilot, whose name was not released, was in fair condition Tuesday afternoon, said hospital spokeswoman Peggy Schunk.

It was the third accident this year. On Feb. 2, a twin-jet corporate plane carrying 11 people ran off the end of a runway during an aborted takeoff, sped across a busy road and slammed into a warehouse. Twenty people were injured, including two who were in a car struck by the plane.

On March 8, another business plane overshot a runway and stopped in snow and mud. Both passengers and the two crew members walked away uninjured. ###

Sources include: 5/31/2005 -- Star Ledger/The Associated Press and The Record
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Views of the scene at about 12:35 p.m.








Most NY area media were on the scene conducting interviews.

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Teterboro Air Crash  February 2, 2005
Teterboro Air Crash March 9, 2002
Hasbrouck Heights Air Crash December 9, 1999

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