WOODBINE — On Saturday, Nov. 14 sometime before 11 a.m., a 1972 Piper Arrow crashed in bad weather behind a residence on Petersburg Road.
According to State Police the pilot and registered owner of the plane, Thaddeus Lasowski, 53, of the South Seaville section of Dennis Township, and his 12 year-old son who was also named Thaddeus were killed on impact.
The aircraft went down within a mile after takeoff from runway 3-1 at the Woodbine Municipal Airport. State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said the aircraft came down at a steep angle.
The aircraft was reportedly en-route to Indiana where the Lasowskis were going hunting.
According to Wayne Rumble, the Woodbine airport manager, Lasowski has been based at the Woodbine airport for the last three years, where he rents a hanger. Rumble said he witnessed Lasowski take off.
Art Reale, a friend of Lasowski who is also a pilot based at the Woodbine airport said Lasowski was not an instrument rated pilot a requirement to fly in bad weather. “Nobody should have been up flying today”, he said “He went up, probably realized he made a mistake and tried to circle in the crosswinds to come back to the runway and got disoriented,” said Raele, when asked what he thought was the cause of the accident.
Woodbine and Dennisville firefighters responded with Belleplain Emergency Corps and Atlanticare paramedics. The State Fire Forest Service was also requested to the scene for assistance due to the location the aircraft went down. First Responders needed all-terrain vehicles to reach the plane.
The Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office and Southern State Regional Medical Examiners Office are on scene; State Police say the investigation may last into the night.
Click here for crash scene video.
Townsend's Inlet – The NJ DEP is responsible for making your house near the water vulnerable to flooding and erosion – the NJ DEP is controlled by DEMS – you have to understand that you live in a blue radical state…
