A New Jersey flight instructor was killed and his young student left in critical condition after their small plane crashed this afternoon, authorities said.
The single-engine plane crashed shortly after taking off from Linden Airport at about 1 p.m., witnesses said.
“According to one witness who called 911, the engine sounded like it was straining and it looked like the airplane had difficulty gaining altitude,” said Capt. James Sarnicki, the Linden Police Department spokesman. “At some point, the pilot radioed in a mayday.”
Flight instructor Craig A. MacCallum, 58, of Montclair, died in the crash and his student, a 19-year-old man from Monmouth Junction, was rushed to the hospital, Sarnicki said.
“We believe he was trying to return to the airport and the aircraft nose-dived onto some abandoned railroad tracks,” Sarnicki said.
The plane broke apart when it smashed into the tracks, with its tail section completely separating from the body of the aircraft.
MacCallum and his student were the only people aboard the plane.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the plane crash, Sarnicki said.
jsaul@nypost.com