Cessna lands in back yard of home in Kinnelon (NJ), both pilots killed, no pax

A Cessna 150 and a Piper PA-28 that had both taken off from Caldwell (NJ) collided in a mid-air Saturday morning over New Jersey, killing two people. One of the aircraft landed in the backyard of a home. ANN had originally received news that one survivor was still trapped in the wreck of the 150 and rescue workers were trying to free that person from the crash, said Holly Baker, FAA spokesperson.

However, it now appears that both the pilots of the aircraft have died, and they had no passengers in either of the airplanes. No one on the ground was injured.

The names of the pilots have not been released, but ANN has determined that one of the aircraft, the Cessna, N6186F, a 1973 C150L, is registered to a partnership. One of the owners of record is Eric A. Myerwold, of Bogota (NJ).

The mid-air occurred over Butler (NJ), and the Piper immediately broke up, said Baker. According to the FAA, neither aircraft had filed flight plans. One of the aircraft, presumably the Cessna, from the description given by an eyewitness and from television news report images, landed in the backyard of a home in Kinnelon at around 0915. The crash site was across the street from an eyewitness, John Yago. The wreckage of the other aircraft was located some time later, but the Piper had suffered much more damage -- so much so that the cabin was virtually unrecognizable.

"I walked over and all you could see when you look behind the house was the tail (of the Cessna) sticking straight up out of the ground," Yago said. He told reporters that his wife said she thought she heard a noise in their kitchen, but he didn't hear anything from where he was working on his computer. He only went outside to see what was going on after he saw the police arrive across the street. Yago added that his neighbor's home was not damaged.

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