Man Airlifted Following Morris County Plane Crash

A Verona man was seriously injured when his single-engine plane went down late Thursday morning near the Pequannock-Lincoln Park border, Pequannock Township Police said.

Lt. Dan Dooley said Leslie E. Gwyn-Williams, 61, was flying from Morristown Municipal Airport on Thursday to meet a friend at Lincoln Park Airport when his plane lost power and its engine.

Gwyn-Williams' single-engine Cessna 182P came down near Grow-Rite Greenhouse & Garden Center at 30 Hillview Road in Lincoln Park. The actual crash took place just across the border in Pequannock.

Dooley said Gwyn-Williams sustained multiple leg and head fractures, as well as facial and internal injuries. Dooley said Gwyn-Williams was conscious when police arrived on the scene and able to communicate, but he was sedated because of the injuries. He was airlifted to Morristown Memorial Hospital via Atlantic Air One.

Dooley also said gas sprayed outside of the plane, as well as on Gwyn-Williams, who was immediately removed.

A 911 call via cell phone was placed to the Pequannock Township Police Department at 11:33 a.m. The department, as well as the Lincoln Park Fire Department, EMS and Hazmat responded. 

No other passengers were on board, and no one on the ground was injured, authorities said. The plane clipped a couple of trees near the greenhouse on the way down, authorities said.

The FAA confirmed the crash at about noon, and that the plane belonged to Gwyn-Williams. The agency reported the plane as a Cessna 281.

Montville Editor Nate Adams and Associate Regional Editor Rick Burchfield contributed to this report.