Pilot in Fiery Teterboro Crash Dies

George Maddox suffered burns over 20-30 percent of his body

The pilot who was badly burned but walked away from the flaming wreckage of his small plane that crashed near Teterboro Airport in New Jersey last month reportedly died of his injuries yesterday.

George Maddox, 54, of Sinking Spring, Pa., suffered burns over 20 percent to 30 percent of his body after he and co-pilot Sanil Gopinath, 42, aborted their landing and clipped a tree on Aug. 21, The New York Post reported. The pilot died last night at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J., said his wife, Lisa Roach Maddoxx.

The two were attempting to land their twin-engine Beechcraft at the New Jersey airport when the plane, which was carrying medical specimens for Quest Diagnostics, went down just a few hundred yards short of the runway. Maddox's wife said her husband wasn't at the controls at the time of the crash.

Maddox and Gopinath staggered out of the fiery wreckage and stunned first responders who arrived outside the New Jersey based airport after the crash.

Little Ferry police officer Adam Warne, who was among the first to respond to the scene, said he was taken aback to find the men alive and talking after the crash.
    
"They were sitting at the curb at the bus stop. Both of them were alert and conscious and answering questions,'' Warne said.
    
At the time, Warne said one man was "severely burned."

Relatives of Maddox were by his bedside when he passed away, according to a Facebook page created in his memory.

"He was a very good pilot. He was a wonderful father and husband, a great friend to many, many people who loved him," Lisa Roach Maddox said in a telephone interview last night, according to NJ.com. "We're all heartbroken."

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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