Deadly plane crash in NJ neighborhood sounds like bomb explosion

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

🚨The only person on board was CEO of a Princeton company

🚨The surrounding neighborhood was evacuated as a safety precaution

This report has been updated with information about the crash victim

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

Franklin police say the plane was located in a brushy area near South Middlebush Lane and Hilltop Lane within Six Mile Run State Park Ground. Franklin Township police identified the pilot, the only person on board, as Pankaj Mohan, 61, of Lawrenceville. He was the CEO and founder of Sonnet Biotherapeutics of Princeton, according to the company.

"Dr. Mohan was a respected leader and visionary throughout his ten years at Sonnet. His unwavering belief in Sonnet’s technology and dedication to providing much needed treatment options to patients has continued to propel Sonnet to where it is today. The company offers its support and deepest condolences to his family and loved ones during this extraordinarily sad time," a company spokeswoman said in a statement to New Jersey 101.5.

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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 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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