Plane Crash Victim Identified

A plane trying to land at South Jersey Regional Airport crashed just short of the runway Tuesday, killing a man and woman from Pennsylvania.

The two-seat, single engine plane crashed nose-first in a field at approximately 1 p.m. The plane had taken off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport a short time before, authorities said. Lumberton Township police identified the woman as Joan Rice, 54, of Philadelphia. The man`s identity was not released pending notification of relatives. It was not known who was flying the plane when it went down.

The National Transportation Safety Board removed the plane from the crash site late Tuesday and took it to a secure site to continue its investigation, police said.

The pilot was certified and had rented the 1977 Grumman American plane from Hortman Aviation of Philadelphia, said Tom Heinsinger, a company spokesman.

The plane is owned by Wally O. Steen, of Weatherford, Texas, who leases two other planes to Hortman Aviation. When contacted in Texas, Steen said he had no details about the crash.

A Hortman Aviation flying instructor and his student were among 11 people killed in August when their small aircraft collided in midair over Burlington Township with another plane carrying workers from the Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)