Airplane Runs Off Runway At Essex County Airport, Leaks Jet Fuel – Livingston, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A plane trying to land on a runway at Essex County Airport veered off the runway and ended up leaking fuel into a drainage brook Sunday afternoon, according to the Fairfield Police Department.

All three people aboard were uninjured.

“At the time of this release, the plane was emitting jet fuel into the brook. The Nutley Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Unit was called in to assist the Fairfield Fire Department in helping to contain the spill,” said the Fairfield Police Department.

The West Caldwell Police and Fire Departments, the Essex County Sheriff’s Department, and the West Essex First Aid Squad also came to assist.

The Fairfield police were alerted to a single plane crash around 2:41 p.m., they said.

The plane, a 2020 Citation CJ3 Plus, was at the end of Runway 22 in a drainage brook. The three occupants were attempting to get out of the plane as police arrived. All were uninjured.

The police said, “Very preliminary investigation revealed that, at the time of the crash, the plane was attempting to land on Runway 22. As the plane was descending, there were strong cross winds which resulted in the plane not touching down on the runway soon enough. The plane traveled briefly on the runway, then onto a grassy area and finally ended up in the drainage brook.”

“We are very relieved that no one was injured as a result of this incident,” said Fairfield Police Chief Anthony G. Manna.

Three people were aboard: The plane’s owner, from Bernardsville, as well as a Danbury, CT man and a Poughkeepside man.