Witnesses Said Plane Came Apart

Five people were reportedly killed Monday when a Cessna 337 Skymaster went down at Monmouth Executive Airport (KBLM) in New Jersey. A helicopter pilot who witnessed the accident said the airplane did a high-speed low pass of the runway, then rolled and impacted the ground.

Other witnesses say they saw parts coming off the airplane before it went down, however their accounts describe different things. One witness who was sledding near the airport said she saw what she thought was a piece of the wing come off the aircraft, but another told a newspaper reporter she saw part of the tail come off the Skymaster. A third, the chef at the airport restaurant, said the airplane approached the runway from the north, but then "popped back up" and "it broke apart."

Multiple media sources, including Fox television station WNYW and ABC News report that the aircraft had landed at the airport prior to the accident. The Skymaster was registered to Jack Air LLC in Delaware, but was reportedly based at Monmouth Executive.

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Authorities recovered the bodies of three adult men, a teenager, and a young child from the wreckage of the plane. None have been identified pending notification of relatives. The incident is being investigated by the FAA and NTSB.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.faa.gov