Bayonne plane crash ‘was like watching a film’ (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO)

BAYONNE — A family that lives across the street from where a small plane crashed on a city street on Sunday is still shaking from the experience.

Tim Craig told New Jersey 101.5 it was a typical Sunday morning as his wife Laura put their son down for a nap, when she heard what she thought was a car crash outside.

"The power flickered and went out. I was in the basement starting laundry and heard nothing," Craig. "When the lights went out I went upstairs and the street was wild with action. People screaming — running to and from the plane — sirens immediately. We honestly could not believe what we were seeing. It was like watching a film."

The plane, a Piper PA-28 aircraft, piloted by 56-year-old George Pettway of Long Island, crashed near the intersection of 41st Street and Avenue E in Bayonne around 10 a.m. Pettway took off from East Farmingdale on Long Island and ran into mechanical issues near the Statue of Liberty. He suffered a broken left forearm, several broken bones and numerouds contusions and abrasions.

NJ.com reported the plane was registered to a flight school in Queens.

Craig said that for the rest of the day, he and his wife watched the clean-up process.

"Many of the houses have damage, but because of the police and fire departments — who were amazing — what could have been a disaster was avoided," he said.

The plane mangled power lines and damaged parked vehicles, and came down not far from a gas station. Avenue E was reopened to traffic late Sunday night.

Toniann Antonelli contributed to this report

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.

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