The two people killed in the Sept. 25, 2016, fatal airplane crash near Sky Manor Airport in Franklin Township (Hunterdon County) have been identified as Gerald Budge, 59, of Robbinsville, and Karen Lowe, 52, of Telford, Pa., the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office announced on Sept. 26, 2016. Watch video
FRANKLIN TWP. -- The two people killed in Sunday's fatal airplane crash near Sky Manor Airport have been identified as Gerald Scott Budge, 59, of Robbinsville, and Karen Lowe, 52, of Telford, Pa., the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office announced on Monday.
The Mooney M20 they were flying in crashed in a grassy field in a residential neighborhood about half a mile southwest of the runway at the small municipal airport at 12:29 p.m. on Sunday.
Budge was issued a private pilot license on Jan. 11, 2015, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The plane was flown out of the Trenton-Robbinsville Airport on Sunday.
Lisa Campbell, who runs the flight service that leases the aircraft at the Robbinsville airport, knew Budge and described him as experienced pilot who had flown that particular plane before.
She said Budge flew out of the airport in Robbinsville alone Sunday. He had also flown out of the Robbinsville airport on Saturday, she said.
She estimated Budge had close to 250 flying hours since being licensed, and had flown that type of airplane for about 60 hours and that actual Mooney for about 30 hours.
Campbell said she's not sure exactly what Budge's personal plans were, and she did not know Lowe, but it's common for pilots to take off from a local airport, land at Sky Manor and have breakfast or lunch at their cafe while watching takeoffs and landings, before flying back to their home airport.
Budge had done such a trip before to Sky Manor, Campbell said. "He was a good pilot and he was familiar with that airport."
Hunterdon County Chief of Detectives John Kuczynski said on Sunday that authorities received a 12:30 p.m. call reporting an "aircraft down." He also spoke at the scene of the crash; a video can be found here.
"The aircraft was apparently coming in for a landing and subsequently witnesses saw the aircraft go down," Kuczynski said.
There was no damage to any property near Sky Manor and Oak Summit roads, where the plane was recovered.
The exact cause of the crash remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA.
Alexia Hughes, a Bucks County, Pa. resident, said she was part of a large crowd watching planes take off and land outside the Sky Cafe restaurant at the airport. They saw a small plane try to land and come in too fast.
"Instead of aborting the landing, he continued to try to land and ran out of runway," she said.
The plane then pulled up, barely clearing trees at the end of the runway, Hughes said. It tilted up and to the left before losing lift and crashing.
Kevin Shea of NJ Advance Media contributed to this report.
Craig Turpin may be reached at cturpin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @NJeditor. Find NJ.com on Facebook.