( CNN ) -- A small plane startled shoppers but caused no injuries or damage Tuesday when it made an emergency landing in the parking lot of a New Jersey shopping mall . The plane 's pilot reported a `` rough-running engine '' before landing Tuesday , an FAA spokeswoman says . The plane landed around noon at the Rockaway Townsquare Mall , according to Greg Poff , an official with Rockaway Township , about 25 miles northwest of Newark , New Jersey . Neither of the two people aboard the Cessna 172 was hurt , Poff said . Footage from the scene showed the plane resting nose down in a part of the parking lot near JCPenney . Mall employee Jennifer Nelson was relieved to hear that no one was hurt , and kept her sense of humor about the novelty of the incident . The optician at Pearle Vision did not see the landing , but heard about it when a patient came in and told her a plane was in the parking lot . At first she thought the patient was kidding . `` I did , because , who would think ? It 's craziness , '' she said . The unusual excitement near her store did inspire one idea . `` We 'll have to have a plane crash special on eyeglasses , '' she said with a laugh . Lori Magie , who works at the JCPenney department store , said that when she heard from others that a plane had landed in the lot , her first thought was to check on her car . `` When I was told , I could not believe there would be an accident like that around here , '' she said . iReport : Watch video shot at the scene of the parking-lot landing . The pilot of the plane reported a `` rough-running engine '' before the aircraft landed in the parking lot , according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Salac . One of the plane 's wheels apparently hit a tree during the landing , said Les Morris , a spokesman for Simon Property Group , which owns the mall . FAA records indicate that the plane is registered to an aircraft charter company called Genesus One , based in Paramus , New Jersey .
Plane carrying two people crashed in parking lot of New Jersey shopping mall . No one injured , Rockaway Township official says . Pilot reported engine failure before landing , FAA spokeswoman says . Airport worker says she thought landing was a mistake when she first heard about it .