CRESSKILL, N.J. -- Two people were injured after a single-engine plane crash landed into some trees at a soccer field behind the Cresskill Swim Club in New Jersey, officials reported.

The crash happened around 4:45 p.m. Thursday at the edge of a soccer field on 3rd street.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the aircraft belonged to Coast Guard Auxiliary and was being flown by USCG volunteers.

Cresskill Police Chief Edward Wrixon told PIX11, “they were flying up and down the Hudson,” when the pilot first noticed an issue.

The pilot reported engine trouble to LaGuardia Airport and they were heading to Teterboro Airport to attempt a landing.

The plane crash landed on a busy field in Cresskill, “there were soccer girls and there were football players too, and they were just all running down the block it was the only way out,” described eyewitness Johnny McCarthy.

McCarthy was impressed by the actions of the pilot, “as he came down I guess he saw the kids might have been on the field, he did some maneuver that was amazing, kind of landed in the tree softened the blow.”

The pilot and passenger aboard the plane were transported to Hackensack University Medical Center with injuries that do not appear to be life-threatening.

Officials say the pilot is being hailed a hero for crash landing the plane in an area away from people and buildings.

NTSB officials will arrive Friday to investigate the crash.