Saturday, November 16, 2002 Posted: 12:42 AM EST (0542 GMT)
FAIRFIELD, New Jersey (AP) -- Two single-engine planes collided near a small airport Friday night and plunged to the ground in a residential area, killing both pilots, officials said.
It was not immediately clear how many people were aboard the four-seat Cessna and the four-seat Piper Lance and no one was injured on the ground, said Robert Grepz of the National Transportation Safety Board.
He said police helicopters were searching the area for other victims of the midair crash.
The Essex County Airport, also known as the Caldwell airport, is located near a densely populated suburban area roughly 20 miles northwest of New York City. It is used by small planes, helicopters and executive jets.
The Piper Lance, which was based at the airport, had been flying since Friday afternoon and had been doing practice landings; the Cessna was apparently descending for an actual landing, said Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura.
Both planes fell to the ground about a half-mile apart near homes located on main roads. Neither home appeared damaged and no fires were reported.
One plane landed in the front yard of a small, pink bungalow, where the back third of the plane's fuselage could be seen sticking up from the ground at a 45 degree angle.
Trish Sepulberes, manager of a restaurant across from the site, said employees heard a big bang, grabbed fire extinguishers and ran outside. She said a waiter ran to the cockpit and tried to pull the pilot out, but he was dead.
She said the pilot appeared to be the only person inside and the owner of the home appeared to arrive just after the plane crashed.
Wreckage from the other plane was in two sections in front of a one-story house near a residential and commercial street.
Jason Ribik, a flight instructor at Air Fleet Training System, said he was practicing takeoffs and landings with a student at Caldwell airport and witnessed the crash.
Ribik said the accident happened around 7:15 p.m. and that both planes were within the airport's traffic radius when they collided.
"We saw them getting too close and said, 'Are they going to hit each other?' And sure enough they hit. One went straight down. The other one looked like it could make it but then it went straight down."
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/11/16/sma....ap/index.html 
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