By Robert Hubner, Director Woodbridge Police Department
On October 29, 2019 at 10:58 AM, the Woodbridge Police Department’s Communication Center began receiving multiple reports of a plane crashing into homes on Berkley Ave. in the Colonia section of Woodbridge Township. Immediately upon receiving the reports, which now included several homes engulfed in flames, the Woodbridge Police Department’s dispatchers began deciphering the information and relaying accurate information to the police officer assigned to dispatch officers to the scene.
As the dispatch center began to become overwhelmed with calls, the dispatchers and the officers in the Communications Center began contacting fire, first-aid, Hazmat, utility companies, and a host of other agencies that needed to be notified. Once officers were on scene, in addition to making sure everyone was being evacuated from surrounding homes and attempting to determine whether anyone was home in any of the three homes engulfed in flames, they set up a perimeter and began preserving the scene of the crash for investigators.
Colonia Fire Department was on scene quickly and began putting water on the fire. Mutual Aid was called, which included every fire department in Woodbridge Township along with Fire Departments from Carteret, Rahway, Sayreville, Metuchen, South Amboy, and Piscataway, the Woodbridge Township Office of Emergency Management, Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management, and the New Jersey State Police Office of Emergency Management. Woodbridge and Avenel/Colonia First Aid and Robert Wood Johnson Hospital Paramedics also responded.
I along with other command staff personnel arrived on the scene within a short period of time to find what initially appeared to be a chaotic scene, only to find that the multitude of emergency personnel on scene were functioning in an extremely organized and efficient manner. As we approached the Command Center, which was set up in the area of the fire, we were introduced by Deputy Police Director Joseph Nisky, who works closely with our first-aid squads and is the WPD liaison to the Township fire districts to the Colonia Fireman Michael Pirozzoli, the Incident Commander who had the responsibility of keeping track of who was on scene and assigning duties to manage the scene. We were impressed with how calm and organized he was as he was getting bombarded with information and questions. As I stood back with Chief Law Enforcement Officer Scott Kuzma and surveyed the scene, we were both taken aback on the efficiency in which the crash scene was being handled by all emergency personnel. Within a short period of time WPD Officers confirmed that all the homes were unoccupied and that there were no injuries on the ground. The plane, flight plan and pilot were identified and it was confirmed that the pilot was the only occupant of the aircraft. Investigators were in contact with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board who were responding to take over the investigation.
On November 5, we received a letter from the National Transportation Safety Board stating: “When we arrive at the scene of airplane accidents, they often can be chaotic and unorganized, but your team had already brought what was chaos to order, which allowed our investigation to hit the ground running.”
I would like to join the NTSB in commending all the emergency personnel from the dispatchers and officers in police headquarters, to all the first responders on scene and in the background who showed true professionalism and dedication on October 29 and whose actions prevented further tragedy and property loss.
