Police: Downed plane bound for Cape Cod was 'Angel Flight'

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — A small plane that crashed in New Jersey on its way to Hyannis was carrying two men on an "Angel Flight" to pick up a patient, according to New Jersey State Police.

Both the pilot, Robert Winner, 69, and co-pilot, Timothy Scannevin, 71, were killed in the crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the Hawker Beechcraft 58 Baron aircraft went down Wednesday morning in Springfield Township.

According to Angel Flight East officials, this is the first crash in this group's 20-year history. Winter had been on four previous Angel Flight East missions.

The crew would have been bound for Philadelphia after they picked up the patient in Hyannis, Massachusetts.

The plane had taken off around 9 a.m. from South Jersey Regional Airport in Lumberton, about 10 miles southwest of the crash scene.

The FAA is investigating the crash.

Garrett Andrew Rodriguez-Maribona, who was at the scene shortly after the crash occurred, told Boston 25 News that he and another man tried to see if there were any survivors but soon realized there were not.

"[I was] just cruising, listening to music that’s when I saw this huge wall of smoke come across the road really fast and i saw in the smoke was the shadow of an object," said Rodriguez-Maribona. "We heard it it sounded exactly like a plane that’s why we drove down this way."

Rodriguez-Maribona and another driver searched through the wreckage until they discovered one of the two bodies.

According to Flightaware, the Beechcraft Baron 58 took off from South Jersey Regional Airport at 9:04 a.m. destination Hyannis. It climbed to 1,300 feet and then dropped 800 feet in 18 seconds. When the plane hit the ground, it shattered into pieces.

The cause and circumstances of the crash are still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

In a press conference on Thursday, NTSB officials said there was no distress call made by the pilot about any issues with the plane, and the investigation is to find out what happened and how to prevent it in the future.

MORE: Plane in fatal New Jersey crash was bound for Cape Cod

Associated Press