Officials say that the pilot of a small plane that crashed into a Middlesex County house and then exploded did not survive the crash.

Woodbridge Township spokesman John Hagerty said the pilot of the Cessna 414 that smashed into a home in the Colonia section was confirmed to be dead by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Sources tell News 12 New Jersey that the pilot was identified as Dr. Michael Schloss, an experienced pilot from Florida. The crash happened around 11 a.m. Tuesday.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Adam Gerhardt said that Schloss was cleared to land at Linden Airport before suddenly losing contact with air traffic controllers.

"At this point in time we have no information that there was a distress call made from the pilot but that will be under further investigation,” Gerhardt said.

Mayor John McCormac said no one was in the home when the plane went down. Flames spread to at least two other homes. The mayor says a woman in one of those houses escaped injury.

Authorities say the flight had left Leesburg, Virginia, with only the pilot aboard. It was headed to Linden Airport, about 4 miles from the crash site.

McCormac said that the scene was unlike any he has ever come across.

"In my 59 of my 61 years here I've never seen this and I just want to say thank God that nobody was hurt on the ground,” he said. “People could have been home, there was a car in the driveway. Everybody thought there was somebody home, you would naturally think that, but they contacted the owner who since came back from his job a little while away."

Gerhardt said it could take up to three days to clear the Cessna 414's wreckage from the home.

"The exact condition of the flight controls and the exact condition of the engine logbooks that may or may not be on the aircraft are all items documenting on the scene,” he said.

The cause of the crash not immediately known, but the weather was misty at the time of the crash.