Cessna Skymaster Breaks Up Over New Jersey Airport

A Cessna 337 Skymaster, a centerline-thrust piston twin, crashed on the grounds of New Jersey's Monmouth Executive Regional Airport (BLM) on Monday afternoon in good weather. All five on board were killed, including three adults, a teenager and a younger boy. The flight originated at the airport about seven minutes before the crash, and some reports indicate it was to have been a sightseeing flight around New York City. Reportedly, some family members of the victims were at the airport and saw the crash. Some witnesses reported the airplane approached the runway at high speed with its landing gear retracted, then pulled up. Several witnesses reported seeing pieces fly off the airframe after the pull up, and according to one report, one of the tailbooms failed and the airplane rolled inverted before crashing into a snowbank alongside the runway. The Skymaster was registered to a Delaware corporation, but was based at BLM, according to early reports.