Small plane crashes into New Jersey neighbourhood, sets 2 homes on fire

A small plane crashed in a residential neighborhood in the New Jersey suburbs of New York City on Tuesday morning, setting two houses ablaze and leaving the pilot unaccounted for.

The twin-engine Cessna 414 crashed into a house in the Colonia section of Woodbridge Township at 11 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said.

A woman in one of the houses escaped injury, Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac said. No one was in the other house, the mayor said, and he does not believe anyone on the ground was injured.

The flight had left Leesburg, Virginia, with only the pilot aboard, authorities said. It had been headed to Linden Airport, about 4 miles from the crash site.

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The wreckage remained in the basement of one of the homes, the mayor said. There was no word on the pilot.

The weather in the area was cloudy and misty at the time of the crash.

The fires are under control, the mayor said.