One man was killed and another seriously injured when a small plane crashed Saturday in West Milford, N.J.
They were the only people aboard the Cessna 172, a four-seat, fixed-wing propeller plane, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Holly Baker.
The single-engine plane went down around noon near a residential, wooded area in the Passaic County community of West Milford.
The pilot, 61-year-old Arthur Leidenfrost of Park Ridge, was pronounced dead there. His passenger, 49-year-old Steven I. Goldstein of Hawthorne, was removed from the wreckage and then flown via helicopter to Morristown Memorial Hospital, and details on his condition were not available early Saturday night.
It was not clear what caused the crash, which occurred near the Greenwood Lake Airport in West Milford. Authorities said they believe the plane departed from Orange County Airport in Montgomery, N.Y. earlier in the day.
However, they are not sure if Leidenfrost was trying to land at the airport in West Milford or if he was trying to make an emergency landing nearby.
No one on the ground was injured and no homes were damaged by the plane, police said.
The FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and the state Department of Transportation Aviation Division will investigate the crash.
1 Killed, 1 Injured in NJ Plane Crash
Two men were only passengers in small plane that crashed in West Milford
Copyright AP - Associated Press
