The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A 61-year-old Lawrenceville man was identified by authorities March 31 as the person who was killed March 30 when the single-engine plane he was piloting crashed in a wooded portion of Six Mile Run.
The man, Pankaj Mohan, was the only person on the plane, authorities said.
Mohan was the founder and CEO of Sonnet BioTherapeutics, a Princeton-based clinical-stage company developing immunotherapeutic drugs targeted to the tumor microenvironment.
The plane crashed in a brushy part of Six Mile Run about 400 feet in from the intersection of Hillside Lane and Zapf Court.
Workers spent March 31 removing the pieces of the plane from the crash site, an observer said.
The plane that Mohan was flying was a Cirrus SR-22, the only general aviation plane equipped with a whole-plane parachute. The parachute is deployed by the activation of a small, solid fuel rocket stored in the plane’s fuselage. There is no indication that the parachute deployed.
Officials, apparently concerned over safety factors revolving around the undeployed rocket and outdoor propane tanks in nearby houses, ordered the evacuation of all residents within 1,000 feet of the crash site on March 30.
That resulted in the closing of Hilltop Lane, Zapf Court and April Lane.
That evacuation order was lifted in the afternoon of March 31.
The plane broadcast its speed, altitude, direction and other data through an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system (ADS-B), which allows for the real-time tracking of aircraft.
Users of a web site called the Aviation Safety Network used the ADS-B data to track what happened to Mohan’s plane during its 4-minute flight from Princeton to Franklin. Additionally, a web site called ABS Exchange used the data to create a graphic map of the flight.
Here are the key points of the flight, as highlighted by the ADS-B data analyzed by both sites:
- The plane was in the air about 4 minutes. It was scheduled for a flight that was supposed to take more than two hours.
- This is the flight path, as recorded by the adsbexchange.com, using ADS-B data:
- The plane took off from Princeton Airport, off of Route 206, slightly after 10:30 a.m.
- The flight path took the plane over the Millstone River, then the Delaware & Raritan Canal and Canal Road, paralleling Old Georgetown Road, over Coppermine Road, over the Yellow Trail at 10-Mile Run, where it descended from 1,800 feet to 1,775 feet at 10:32, over Bunker Hill Road, and past the Bunker Hill Golf Course.
- The plane descended to 1,750 feet at 10:32, as it passed by Langfeldt Court, then down to 1,725 feet at 10:33 as it passed over Butler Road.
- It continued descending to 1,625 feet before climbing back to 1,700 feet after passing over Suydam Road.
- The plane maintained a height of between 1,725 feet and 1,775 feet until soon after passing over Jaques Lane, when over the course of 18 seconds it dropped 525 feet, from 1,775 to 1,250 feet.
- The plane was cruising at 1,200 feet when it crossed over South Middlebush Road at 10:34 a.m., and climbed back up to 1,525 feet 15 seconds later.
- The plane then started a sweeping left turn, crossing over Skillmans Lane twice, rapidly descending to 650 feet when it crossed over Zapf Court and Hilltop Lane, before crashing.
- A narrative provided by a user of the Aviation Safety Network described the descent as “an out-of-control left spiral which was not recovered from.”
Mohan’s fixed-wing, single-engine plane was owned by Cloudsail Aviation of Princeton, according to records maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration.
It was manufactured in 2024, receiving its certification in July of that years, according to the FAA records.
FAA records have two entries of certifications for a Pankaj Mohan.
The first, which does not list an address, was issued on July 31, 2015, and shows that Mohan is a certified commercial pilot.
The second, which lists Mohan’s Lawrenceville address, shows that he is a certified private pilot. That certification was issued on March 22, 2024.
Township police received a call from air traffic controllers at about 11:26 a.m. on March 30, telling them that the controllers had lost contact with a single-engine plane in the vicinity of South MIddlebush Road and Jaques Lane, according to an FTPD press release.
NJ State Police launched an aerial search, and the Millstone Valley Fire Department deployed their drone to aid in the search.
At about 1:22 p.m., the FAA provided searchers with more detailed information that led to the discovery of the plane in a brushy section of Six Mile Run near Hilltop Lane, according to the release.
FTPD and MVFD conformed that there was one victim, according to the release.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the family of Mr. Mohan during this incredibly difficult time,” Public Safety Director Quovella Maeweather said in the release.
The investigation into the crash is continuing. Investigating agencies are the NJ State Park Police, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, the FAA, and the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact Detective William Poling at 732-873-5533, extension 3227, or via email at william.poling@franklinnj.gov.
Stay ‘In the Know,’ subscribe to the Franklin Reporter & Advocate!
No other media outlet covering Franklin Township brings you the depth of information presented by the Franklin Reporter & Advocate. Period. We are the only truly independent media serving the Eight Villages.
But we can only do that with your support. Please consider a yearly subscription to our online news site; at $37 a year, it’s one of the best investments you can make for yourself.
To subscribe, please click here.
