Plane Impacts Driveway Four Miles From Field

A single-engine Beech A36 Bonanza crashed in a New Jersey driveway Monday night and burst into flames, killing the pilot and causing neighbors to flee.

FAA records show the Bonanza was approaching Caldwell, NJ after a flight from Charlotte, NC. The NTSB says the pilot was cleared for the localizer instrument approach for Caldwell in his last contact with ATC. There was fog in the area, although investigators don't know if that played a role in the crash or not.

Nearby residents in Wayne, NJ said they thought at first it was the crash of a speeding car, or a tanker truck accident... but then saw wings among the debris. The home where the plane crashed, located four miles from the airport, was unoccupied at the time.

"I thought it was like a car that was speeding or something! What kind of plane was it?" said one witness, according to New York's WCBS-TV.

Police identified the pilot as 55-year-old Andrew Coppolo. Investigators told WABC-TV Coppolo flew the plane in and out of nearby Essex County Airport many times; the aircraft (file photo of type, below), owned by Berg A King Flying Corporation, was based at the airport.

WABC also reports one of the EMTs who responded to the accident was the Coppolo's son.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 711SK        Make/Model: BE36      Description: 36 Bonanza
  Date: 01/05/2007     Time: 0040

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
  City: WAYNE   State: NJ   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  ACFT CRASED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET, THE ONE
  PERSON ON BOARD WAS FATALLY INJURED, WAYNE, NJ

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   1
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: WIND VAR 03 VIS 4 BR SCT005 SCT100 07/07 2975

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER

  Departed: CHARLOTTE, NC               Dep Date:    Dep. Time:     
  Destination: CALDWELL, NJ             Flt Plan:              Wx Briefing: 
  Last Radio Cont: 
  Last Clearance: 

  FAA FSDO: TETERBORO, NJ  (EA25)                 Entry date: 01/16/2007

FMI: www.faa.gov