MILLVILLE -- A small propeller-driven airplane carrying two men crashed into woods at Millville Airport on Tuesday afternoon during an attempted landing.

The accident occurred about 3:30 p.m. near the eastern end of Runway 10-28. The single-engine Cherokee's forward fuselage was badly damaged and part of a wing sheered off.

Millville Fire Department medics tended to the occupants at the scene.

"They weren't seriously injured," said Deputy Fire Chief James Reeves, who noted the men already were out of the plane when firefighters arrived.

The pilot, George Loose of Bridgeton, was treated at the South Jersey Healthcare Regional Medical Center in Vineland and later released, state police said. The passenger, David Burton of Pittsgrove, was still at the hospital awaiting test results late Tuesday night.

The plane left the airport only about five minutes before the crash, said James Salmon, a spokesman for the Delaware River and Bay Authority, which operates the airport for the city.

Loose turned the plane around after experiencing unspecified difficulties, Salmon said. The plane never made it to the runway, landing in grass and dirt at the edge of the asphalt strip before skidding into the woods.

Reeves said there was no fire.