Fatal NJ plane crash under investigation, authorities say

TUCKERTON — The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a fatal plane crash that took place in Ocean County.

At about 2:45 p.m., New Jersey State Police posted a message on Twitter saying the two-passenger plane, which went missing Saturday, was found by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter in Bass River State Forest.

Troopers from the Tuckerton Station initially responded to the area at about 10:56 a.m. after receiving a call regarding a possible downed aircraft in Ocean County. According to a statement from state police, the aircraft is believed to have left Salisbury, Maryland Saturday en route to Ocean County Airport.

"The plane did not arrive as scheduled last night and attempts to communicate with the pilot were unsuccessful," state police said.

The cell phone that the pilot of the plane was carrying was tracked, leading authorities to the search area, NJ State Police Trooper Alejandro Goaz said.

Sunday evening, officials from the NTSB said crews were on their way to investigate the crash. Eric Weiss, and NTSB spokesperson, identified the plane as a two-seater Ryan Navion single-engine aircraft. He confirmed that the crash was fatal.

"We're just mobilizing and getting down there and hopefully we'll secure the site and take a look at the wreckage," Weiss said.

Weiss couldn't provide any information on who was killed in the crash, saying local authorities will be releasing that information.

Toniann Antonelli is a social content producer for NJ 101.5. She can be reached at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.