Small Plane Crashes in New Jersey Yard

A small plane crashed in a New Jersey neighborhood as it approached an airport Wednesday morning, authorities say.

The plane, an amateur-built Auriga, crashed in a yard on Sunnymeade Road in Hillsborough Township shortly before 10 a.m.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the New Jersey Department of Transportation said the plane crashed as it approached Central Jersey Regional Airport in Manville. 

Victor Holmlund, 73, of Hillsborough, was the only person inside the plane and safely walked away from the crash. Friend and fellow pilot Jim Wilson said it took Holmlund 25 years to build the plane himself. 

 

"It's a good thing he was in that -- it's a nice, heavy design, that plane," said Wilson. 

 

A business owner in the area, John Domici, said he didn't hear the plane going down.

 

"We think about it, it's a concern when you're working inside and you have them flying that close," he said. "But this is the first time there's been an incident like this." 

Holmlund was named to the FAA's exlusive Airmen's Certification Database last September, meaning he met or surpassed the FAA's high standards for pilots.

 

The FAA is investigating the crash.