The aircraft landed upside down in a backyard in Lindenwold. Watch video
LINDENWOLD -- Two men whose two-seater airplane crashed into a backyard at 506 East Linden Ave. Wednesday were trapped upside down for roughly 20 minutes while fire crews from two towns cut the plane apart, authorities said.
They were lucky to be alive and it was "very fortunate" the plane didn't strike a house or tree in the residential neighborhood, Lindenwold police Chief Tom Brennan said.
"None of the injuries appeared to be life threatening," Brennan said at a press conference. "We don't have names of victims, they were unable to communicate."
One man was taken by helicopter and the other by ambulance to Cooper University Hospital, in Camden.
The Ercoupe 415-C plane took off from the Flying W Airport in Medford, and the crash was reported at 12:47 p.m. Authorities don't know yet what caused it to crash. Federal Aviation Administration officials were on the scene, and the National Transportation Safety Board was also called, Brennan said.
He said there were no witnesses to the crash.
Officials did not identify the two victims, describing them only as a 66-year-old pilot or his 72-year-old passenger. But the plane's owner, Daniel McCaffrey of Maryland, said he rented the plane to a friend, Wayne Gilchrist of Delaware. He said Gilchrist planned to pick up a friend in New Jersey for a plane ride.
"I'm just happy that he was able to put it down" in a way that no one was killed, McCaffrey said.
He said he has no idea what caused the crash, as the vintage 1946 plane has had no sign of mechanical problems.
He hadn't been contacted by the Federal Aviation Administration as of 6 p.m. He said he learned of the crash because the manager of his local airport saw the registration number on the plane and believed he was the one who was in the crash.
The plane that McCaffrey has owned and flown for about 10 years lay in two large pieces in the backyard of 506 East Linden Ave. Early in the afternoon it was surrounded by firefighters and police officers and numerous fire trucks and police vehicles blocked all of East Linden Avenue.
By 4 p.m., the street had reopened and all but one police officer had left the area. Numerous neighbors stopped by to take photos and the street was clogged with vehicles crawling as drivers tried to catch a glimpse of the wreckage.
Maria Lopez, who lives in the house next door to the crash, said she heard a "boom," but looked out in the street for a car crash, after failing to see what made the noise she returned to her porch.
"This guy ran across the street to the fire station and he said, 'There's a plane in there,'" she said.
She watched as police and then firefighters arrived and crouched next to the upside down cockpit, which was separated from the tail.
Lindenwold Fire Department Chief Mike Nolan said his firefighters and crews from Cherry Hill used a reciprocating saw and other extrication tools to cut open the plane and remove the two men.
They were also concerned about the possibility of a fire and called in a hazardous materials team because fuel was leaking from the plane, Nolan said.
The owner of the house at 506 East Linden Ave. returned home from work at Cooper University Hospital to find her entire property surrounded by police tape and crawling with investigators.
"I'm actually still in shock," Doretha Williams said. "On what day do you come home and that plane's in your yard?"
Nolan said the last plane crash in Lindenwold was about 45 years ago, when a small plane went down near the fire station on Scott Avenue.
Authorities said the closest airstrip is the Camden County Airport in the Albion section of Winslow Township, about three or four miles away.
Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.