More bodies found after plane crash
DANBURY — Two additional bodies were found Sunday afternoon after a fatal plane crash in New York that killed a Waterbury man.
The plane that crashed off the Long Island Coast Saturday morning had stopped in Danbury earlier that day after taking off from Waterbury-Oxford Airport.
One passenger, 41-year-old Munidat “Raj” Persaud, of Waterbury, was found dead in the water.
The remains of two other passengers were found Sunday afternoon, according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier, as was the fuselage of the plane.
That represents all three passengers on the plane, the Coast Guard said in a release.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and families of the people who were aboard the plane,” said Capt. Kevin Reed, commander Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound. “We are grateful to the emergency responders who assisted in the search efforts.”
Strohmaier said the Coast Guard has closed the case. The National Transportation Safety Bureau will be investigating the matter, he said.
Mike Safranek, Danbury’s assistant airport administrator, said the airport is cooperating with the investigation.
“We are working with federal authorities to help in any way we can,” he said.
Safranek declined to comment further, citing the seriousness of the crash.
New York State Police identi- fied Persaud on Sunday as one the passengers killed in the crash.
Persaud is the founder of Oxford Flight Training, a company that aims to teach students how to fly, as well as provides maintenance for aircrafts. He started the company in 2004.
He was a former airline flight engineer and worked for several airlines, including Pan American World Airways, as a technical representative and avionics tech, according to the company’s website. He was also a commercial pilot and FAA certified maintenance inspector and technician.
A woman who answered the phone at Oxford Flight Training did not wish to comment.
The plane had been headed to Charleston Executive Airport in South Carolina when it went down about three miles southeast of Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., the Federal Aviation Ad- ministration said.
The Coast Guard and several agencies searched Sunday for the fuselage and the other passengers. Several pieces of debris were found.
Marine and police aviation units from Suffolk county, Southampton Bay Constables and Quogue Village Police were among the groups involved in the search.
The Federal Aviation Administration did not have any updated information on Sunday.