(CBS NEWS) NEW YORK — A pilot was injured when a small plane went down Sunday morning in Bayonne, New Jersey.

According to CBS New York, the Bayonne Office of Emergency Management said the plane crashed on Avenue E between 41st and 42nd streets, and advised the public to avoid the area.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the aircraft was a Piper PA-28. The plane was registered to a Queens flight school, WCBS 880’s Myles Miller reported.

As CBS2’s Dave Carlin reported, the pilot was the only occupant in the plane. He radioed for help near the Statue of Liberty, but what brought him down in Bayonne was unknown.

The plane appeared to make a sharp turn to avoid a gas station. It took down power lines and came to a rest on 42nd Street, where it totaled several cars but stopped short of hitting any homes.

No one in the cars was injured.

Sections of a wing slammed onto the pavement at the gas station, inches away from the pumps. Another plane part slammed into a glass door of the gas station retail area, when three people were inside.

The people inside were shocked, but uninjured.

Other parts of the downed plane dotted Avenue E, and residents said the situation could have been much worse.

Rose Palmisano was in her house on Avenue E.

“It was like an earthquake in our house,” she said. “We came out and the wheels were upside down and someone said it was a plane.”

Photos taken at the scene showed parts of the plane scattered around a residential block with police and fire crews surrounding them.

The pilot was conscious when he was taken to Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City for treatment.