It happened around 12:45 p.m. near Tuckahoe Road and Harding Highway.
According to the Franklin Township Police Department, 64-year-old Gerard Asselta, who was the only person on board the aircraft, took off from a private residence in Vineland.
He was later found dead after crashing in a wooded area off Tuckahoe Road in Franklin Township.
Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft in the area of Downstown Airport, but it s unclear if Asselta was trying to land before the crash occurred.
The Federal Aviation Administration and local authorities are working to determine the cause of the accident.
Pilot killed in ultralight crash recalled as upbeat, resourceful
Updated Jan 12, 2021;
Posted Jan 12, 2021
Emergency personnel investigate an ultralight aircraft crash near Tuckahoe Road in Franklin Township, Gloucester County, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021.The scene is a quarter mile from Downstown Airport on Route 40.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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Friends and relatives are remembering Gerard Asselta as a hard worker who maintained a positive outlook on life.
Asselta, 64, of Vineland, died when his single-engine craft crashed in a wooded area of Franklin Township, Gloucester County, near Tuckahoe Road and Route 40, just a short distance from Downstown Airport.
Investigators said Asselta took off from a friend’s property on Union Road in neighboring Vineland and was only aloft for a short time before the crash occurred shortly before 1 p.m.
FRANKLIN - A Vineland man died Monday when his ultralight aircraft crashed in a wooded area here, police say.
The body of Gerard Asselta, 64, was found beneath the wreckage of his single-engine aircraft near the intersection of Harding Highway and Tuckahoe Road, according to Franklin police.
Asselta s aircraft was reported to have taken off at a home near Union Road in Vineland.
Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft in the area of Downstown Airport on Harding Highway prior to the crash around 12:55 p.m., said a police account. However, it is unknown if the aircraft was trying to land at the airport, it said.