Residents say it was too close for comfort, By Linda Smith Hancharick and Donna Chamberlain West Milford Gerard Barrere came home from work last Saturday morning and was standing in his driveway on Split Rock Road when he noticed a red and white plane flying overhead set off by the beautiful blue sky. What a gorgeous day to be flying, he thought. He noticed the plane was very loud and moving slowly but didn’t think much of it. Not until a few hours later when he heard about a plane crash not far from his home and went to see. There in the woods was the red and white plane he had noticed earlier. The pilot of the Cessna 172E aircraft, Arthur Leidenfrost, 61, of Park Ridge, was pronounced dead at the scene. A second person, Steven I. Goldstein, 49, of Hawthorne was flown by State Police Medivac to Morristown Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. Sarah Davie, a West Milford fire fighter and first aid squad member, saw the plane go down just after noon on Saturday. She was near the site at the time and just noticed the plane out of the corner of her eye. “I saw it in the sky and it was very low,” said Davie. Then she saw it drop. She immediately called 911. Police Officer Anthony Parello, who was on duty, also witnessed the plane go down. He and Davie were on the scene in minutes, as were other police and the fire department. “Police were there instantly,” said Davie. The plane went down behind a housing development of new homes and homesites. It landed about 50 yards from a home, according to Liam Glinane, a member of Rescue Co. #4. “It was a beautiful morning,” said Glinane. “Residents were outside doing yard work. This is a new development, a rough site of new construction and vacant lots.” Rescue personnel used power tools to get through the woods to the plane and then into the cockpit, which, Glinane said, was penetrated by jagged pieces of aluminum. Rescuers engaged in dialogue with one of the occupants of the plane who was suffering from blunt trauma. Davie noted that the area doesn’t even have roads yet. “Funny how people got there so quickly,” she said. Samantha Areson, 12, lives with her family near the site. She said they didn’t hear anything until about 12:30 p.m. when it came over the police scanner. She and her friends went into the woods to take pictures of the crash later on. She was scared, she said, when she realized how close it was to her home and that someone actually died in the plane. Police said initial witness reports indicate the aircraft’s engine was sputtering while witnesses closer to the crash site reported no engine noise, which could be an indication that the engine had cut out prior to impact. It appears the plane was flown from Miller Airport in Berkley Township to Greenwood Lake Airport by Leidenfrost, where he picked up Goldstein before taking off again, according to police. The crash site is approximately half a mile from Greenwood Lake Airport. Police also said Leidenfrost was a flight instructor and both he and Goldstein were pilots. The Federal Aviation Authority and the National Transportation Safety Board are conducting an investigation.