New Jersey skydiving company says pilot tried emergency landing but plane went off runway into woods

MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — The pilot of a skydiving team encountered mechanical issues that prompted an emergency landing at a small New Jersey airport but could not get the plane stopped at the end of the runway, the company said in a statement Thursday.

Skydive Cross Keys said the plane was at an altitude of about 3,000 feet (900 meters) when the problem arose. Fifteen people were aboard the plane, and as of Thursday afternoon three remained in critical condition at a New Jersey hospital and five others were listed as serious.

The single engine Cessna 208B radioed about having engine trouble after takeoff and crashed on landing around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Cross Keys Airport, about 21 miles (34 kilometers) southeast of Philadelphia, authorities said. An initial report posted Thursday by the Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft, with 14 passengers and one crew member, “crashed while returning to the airport after a runway excursion into trees.”

Monroe Township Police Chief John McBride said he was among the first rescuers to arrive at the crash, finding most of the victims “out of the plane and crawling on the ground.” Some were still trying to remove their parachutes.

Fire crews had to cut down trees to get to the wreckage, which McBride said was “completely mangled, just beyond repair. It just looked like a big pile of metal.” Less-injured victims were tending to more seriously hurt people. Some were screaming in pain and victims were covered in jet fuel.

“It was chaotic,” McBride said at a Thursday news conference. “Officers are hollering for assistance, trying to calm everyone down.”

Cooper University Hospital spokesperson Wendy A. Marano said all eight of the patients at the hospital in Camden suffered blunt force trauma, including injuries to their extremities and soft tissue damage. Township emergency officials had said three victims were taken to Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill, but the hospital's spokesperson said that while its emergency medical responders treated victims at the scene, none were taken to Inspira facilities.

Only one of the 15 people refused medical treatment. McBride said that when he told the man he had a facial injury and needed care, his response was: “It’ll be something cool to tell the ladies later.”

In its statement, Skydive Cross Keys said three people were unhurt and none of the injuries is thought to be life-threatening. It said the plane was up-to-date on scheduled maintenance and had recently been inspected by the FAA. The company described the unnamed pilot as experienced.

“The plane did try to circle back and attempt a landing, we are told, but was unsuccessful in that attempt,” Andrew Halter, with Gloucester County Emergency Management, said during a news conference Wednesday night.

“Just the fact that we have 15 people that are still with us here today, some with minor injuries, I think is fantastic and remarkable,” he said.

Halter said the aircraft is owned and operated by ARNE Aviation out of Virginia and leased to Skydive Cross Keys. A message seeking comment was left Thursday morning for ARNE Aviation.

Federal agencies are investigating the crash.

Scolforo contributed from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Maryclaire Dale from Camden, New Jersey.

Skydive Cross Keys is seen in Gloucester County, N.J., on Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

First responders work the scene at Cross Keys Airport in Gloucester County, N.J., after a skydiving aircraft went off the end of a runway and crashed into the woods Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

This image taken from video provided by WPVI-TV/6ABC shows emergency personnel working at the scene where a small skydiving aircraft went off the end of a runway and crashed in the woods at Cross Keys Airport in Gloucester County, N.J., Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (WPVI-TV/6ABC via AP)

New Jersey State Police direct traffic near Cross Keys Airport in Gloucester County, N.J., after a skydiving aircraft went off the end of a runway and crashed into the woods Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (Kaiden J. Yu/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

This image taken from video provided by WPVI-TV/6ABC shows a small skydiving aircraft that went off the end of a runway at Cross Keys Airport in Gloucester County, N.J., on Wednesday evening, July 2, 2025. (WPVI-TV/6ABC via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)