Beechcraft down at Bader

Plane crash kills two

N.J. couple dies when craft wrecks short of Bader Field

By J. STAAS HAUGHT Staff Writer, (609) 272-7253

ATLANTIC CITY - Two people are dead after the small plane they were traveling in
Sunday experienced engine trouble en route to Bader Field and plunged into the
shallow, muddy waters of the Great Thorofare.

Witnesses described seeing the twin-engine Beech E95 Travel Air "twisting and
spinning" before crashing into less than five feet of water a few yards from shore.

Atlantic City Fire Department acting Battalion Chief Steve Costello said the pilot, a
male, appeared to be dead before crews reached the scene. The passenger had a faint
pulse at first, but died before she could be taken to a hospital. Both victims
suffered multiple, severe fractures of the arms, chest, legs and neck.

Ronald A. Ruel, 53, and his wife, Denise, 55, of Bloomsbury, Hunterdon County, were
killed in the accident, State Police said.

Lee Castner, an employee at Sky Manor Airport at Alexandria Field in Pittstown, said
he saw the Ruels take off from the small airport at about 11 a.m. Sunday.

The flight to Atlantic City would have taken about one hour, Castner said. The first
911 calls came in at about 12:15 p.m.

"Ron is a good guy. Everybody knows him; everybody likes him here," Castner said.

No one answered the phone at the Ruels' Creveling Road home Sunday evening.

People familiar with the family said the Ruels had three children - two daughters and
a son.

The Ruels had been using the airport since they first registered the plane in 1996,
Castner said, adding that Ronald Ruel was an experienced pilot.

State Police Trooper Stephen Jones said Ruel was attempting a landing at nearby Bader
Field when he radioed air traffic controllers that the plane was experiencing
mechanical difficulties.

"He tried to abort the landing, but then went down," Jones said.

Several people along busy Route 40 into Atlantic City saw the plane go down and
stopped to call 911.

Edwin Cabrera and Rahim Abdullah were taking a break from work when they saw the
plane crash into the water, just a few hundred yards from where they were sitting.

"We were just out here, chilling, when I saw this plane twirling in the air. Then I
heard a big splash. I said 'A plane just fell into the water,'" said Cabrera, an
employee at Allure on Route 40.

The two men called for help and then started clearing onlookers out of the parking
lot so rescue personnel could set up operations.

Gary Hermann was traveling into Atlantic City when he saw the plane pass overhead.

"I saw it come around, over Route 40. It was spinning out of control, twisting, you
know, nose down," he said. "I knew it wasn't going to pull out of that."

Hermann pulled his pickup truck into a nearby parking lot and saw the small, white
plane floating belly-down in the murky water.

Another witness, Jan Jensen, said she and husband were at the airport waiting for the
Ruels' plane to land and taxi before they took off themselves.

She said after the crash that her husband saw two people who appeared to be standing
on the wings of the plane and assumed that the passengers had made it out safely.

Jensen said she was feeling sick late Sunday when she learned of the Ruels' deaths.

"All day long, I've been praying for these people," Jensen said.

Within minutes of the crash, dozens of people stopped along the road to look at the
plane. Its cockpit, rear wings and crumpled nose section were the only things still
visible above the water line.

"I saw a man walk out there to the plane and then a few minutes later police and
stuff were coming," Hermann said.

Costello said the man seen walking out to the plane was off-duty Atlantic City
firefighter B.J. Fox, one of the first people on the scene.

Fox and other passers-by attempted to help the victims, Costello said. One man used
his personal watercraft to ferry waiting rescue workers out to the scene.

Other personal watercraft and boats idled nearby the wreck as two U.S. Coast Guard
helicopters circled above. It took several hours for rescue personnel to clear the
scene.

State Police, Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety
Board officials are now investigating the cause of the accident.

The last fatal plane crash at Bader Field was in 1995, when Stephen Bender, of Fort
Lee, ran into piling and crashed into the water.

Staff writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

George Patterson
In Idaho, tossing a rattlesnake into a crowded room is felony assault.
In Tennessee, it's evangelism.