Deadly plane crash in NJ neighborhood sounds like bomb explosion

🚨Air traffic controllers lost contact with the small plane Sunday morning

🚨It was located near a neighborhood in Franklin Township

🚨The neighborhood was evacuated as a safety precaution

FRANKLIN (Somerset) — A small plane crashed into a Somerset County neighborhood Sunday afternoon.

According to the FAA, a single-engine Cirrus SR22 took off from Princeton Airport around 10:35 a.m. headed for Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina.

Township police were notified an hour later that contact was lost with the plane somewhere over the township.

State Police launched an air search while Millstone Valley Fire Department deployed a drone.

Franklin police say the plane was located in a brushy area near South Middlebush Lane and Hilltop Lane. Ground crews confirmed one person was inside the plane.

The immediate area was evacuated as a safety precaution for a time.

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'Sounded like a bomb that had gone off'

Former mayor Chris Kelly, who lives in the neighborhood near the cars,h told the Franklin Reporter he heard the engine of the plane “straining” to gain altitude followed by what sounded like a bomb.

"It was very, very frightening and it sounded like it was very close," Kelly told the Reporter.

The identity of the pilot has not been disclosed. The NTSB and FAA will investigate the crash.

Nearly 12 years to the day, two people were injured in a small plane crash on Weston Canal Road in Franklin Township, according to NJ.com coverage.

The FAA said a two-seat Piper PA-38 Tomahawk hit three utility poles during a forced landing during the April 2, 2011 crash.

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