Two killed in
plane crash
MARLBORO — Two 23-year-old men from Spotswood, Middlesex County, died in the Sunday night crash of a Cessna 172 aircraft near Marlboro Airport, Route 79.
The airplane’s pilot, Patrick Cook, had received his pilot’s license only a few hours before inviting his friend, Michael Logan, to accompany him on the flight that ended in tragedy at about 7:30 p.m., Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye said Monday.
"Mr. Cook was a brand-new pilot," Kaye said, explaining that the airplane flipped after striking high tension wires on its approach to the airport.
The plane came to rest in a grassy area near a cemetery on Route 79 that is just north of the airport.
"There’s nothing suspicious about this," said Kaye, who indicated he received the information about the crash as part of death reports in Monmouth County that are routinely presented to him.
Cook was pronounced dead at 10 p.m. Sunday at the crash scene, according to Beverly Walker, marketing communications specialist, CentraState Healthcare System, Freehold Township. She said CentraState received a 911 call at 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
Kaye said Logan died at 5 a.m. Monday at Jersey Shore Medical Center, Neptune.
Alan Heckler, the owner of Esquire Aviation, L.L.C., a corporation registered in Dover, Del., with headquarters in Free-hold, said the firm leased the plane to Marlboro Airport. Heckler said he understood that Cook was a new pilot and flying at night and that "that might have been a contributing factor" in the crash.
Heckler said he visited the site of the crash and that representatives of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, confirmed that the plane hit the high tension wires in the vicinity of the airport.
A woman who answered the phone at the Marlboro Airport on Monday said the airport owner was unavailable for comment. That person would not say if the airport had rented the plane to Cook.

