Pilot killed in small plane crash outside West Milford airport

The pilot of a single-engine plane was killed Wednesday afternoon when the plane crashed into a wooded area outside a Passaic County airport.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection says that the crash happened just after 2:30 p.m. at the Jungle Habitat property near West Milford’s Greenwood Lake Airport. A spokesperson for the DEP says that the pilot was the only person aboard the plane at the time of the crash.
The New Jersey Forest Fire Service was called to the scene to put out a small brush fire caused by the crash.
The manager of a restaurant located inside the airport tells News 12 New Jersey that he saw a lot of smoke coming from the woods. The owner of a nearby condo says that power was out in the area and that she was worried about the fire spreading.
A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration says that the plane was a Piper PA32 and that it crashed right after it took off from Runway 24.
National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.
The pilot’s identity was not immediately released.