New Jersey officials are still searching for the pilot of single engine plane that crashed just off the coast Wednesday morning.
New Jersey State Police responded to a beach area in Cape May point at around 11:45 a.m. after receiving reports of an aircraft crashing into the Atlantic Ocean. Once on the the scene, an aviation team located evidence of a crash but not the plane itself. This included debris and a fuel slick.
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The single engine aircraft was eventually found via sonar in approximately 18 feet of water and about 1,200 feet from the Cape May Lighthouse by the state’s Marine Services Bureau.
The plane was identified as a Mooney M20J which had taken off from the Trenton-Robbinsville Airport in Mercer County at around 8:00 a.m. with at least one person on board, police said.
The pilot, whose identity has not been confirmed, had not been found as of Thursday morning. Officials also said it is unknown if there were any unreported passengers on board the plane at the time of the crash.
The U.S. Coast Guard suspended their search Wednesday evening.
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Plane owner Lisa Campbell of Air-Mods Flight Training Center identified the pilot as an adult male who was a regular customer and flew recreationally. She said that both the man’s credentials and the aircraft itself were “all in order” prior to takeoff.
The State Police and U.S. Coast Guard were working to recover the aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.