Two killed in latest South Jersey plane crash

Two people died today when their plane, a former military jet trainer, crashed in a Cumberland County forest shortly after takeoff from Millville Municipal Airport.

This was the second fatal crash of a small plane in South Jersey in 36 hours.

The pilot, William Crean, 65, of Sewell, and a 57-year-old male passenger from Gloucester County were the only people on board the two-seat craft, police said.

The plane went down shortly after 8 a.m. in a densely wooded wildlife management area one mile from Buckshutem Road, police said. The site is half a mile northwest of the airport runway, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Holly Baker said.

Police used a fire department bulldozer to clear a path so they could reach the site on all-terrain vehicles, state police spokesman Stephen Jones said.

The cause of the crash will be determined after "very deliberate and thorough investigations" by the FAA, he said.

The investigation remains ongoing, Baker said last night.

Wreckage from the L-29 Delfin plane, a former Czech training craft, was scattered across a 100-foot area, Jones said. The plane hit a number of trees on its "fairly steep descent" to the forest floor, he said.

There was no fire, but investigators waited until 1:30 p.m. to remove the bodies to be sure there was no risk of the plane's charged ejection seat igniting. The plane's wreckage will remain at the forested site as investigation proceeds, he said.

FAA officials also continue investigating the Friday night crash of a homebuilt plane that killed two people in Cape May County. Atlantic City police officer Dennis McGurk, Jr., 37, and his wife, Oksana McGurk, 34, of Mays Landing, died when the single-engine plane went down in the parking lot of the Belleplain Fire Department in Dennis Township shortly before 8 p.m., state police said.

The wreckage from that crash has been recovered and secured, and the investigation will be led by the National Transportation Safety Board, Baker said.

FAA records show indicate McGurk registered the F-1 Rocket in September.

Both of the planes involved in the weekend crashes were classified by the FAA as "experimental," Baker said. The Czech training craft received a U.S. airworthiness certificate in 1994, she said.