1 dead in plane crash
Crews search for 2 missing passengers in flight from Danbury Municipal Airport
DANBURY — One body was recovered after a plane that made a stop at Danbury Municipal Airport crashed in New York on Saturday, and recovery efforts for two other passengers were expected to continue overnight, officials said.
“Search and rescue efforts are still ongoing,” said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier around 8 p.m. Saturday. “The Coast Guard is maintaining a vessle at the scene.”
The plane left Waterbury-Oxford Airport on Saturday morning and made a stop at Danbury Municipal Airport, said Connecticut Airport Authrority spokeswoman Alisa D. Sisic. It crashed in around 11 a.m.
Around 11:10 a.m., personnel at the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound were told by Southampton police that a twinengine Piper PA-34 crashed into the Atlantic.
The plane crashed about 3 miles southeast of Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., the Federal Aviation Administration said. The aircraft was headed for Charleston Executive Airport in South Carolina.
A Coast Guard boat crew was immediately dispatched to the area of the crash and found a field of debris and an oil sheen on the water near the reported crash site.
One body was recovered from the waters about 1 mile south of Quogue, N.Y., on Saturday afternoon, Strohmaier said. The body was taken to the medical examiner in Suffolk County, he said.
The identities of the plane’s occupants were not released Saturday.
“We were notified that there were three people on board so we continue to search,” Strohmaier said.
Coast Guard personnel, Suffolk County Marine and multiple air crews from the New York Air National Guard — who were relieved by an air crew from Air Station Cape Cod — searched the area for the remaining plane passengers throughout the day Saturday. Bay Constables, a commercial salvage crew, was also involved in the search.
The Coast Guard continued to search the waters from an 87-foot-long boat for the two passengers who have yet to be accounted for Saturday into Sunday, Strohmaier said. Southampton police patrolled the area from the beach to check for any signs of the two individuals and to collect possible plane debris that might wash ashore.
“They’re going to keep searching overnight and hopefully be able to locate the two individuals,” Strohmaier said.
It was unclear if officials belive the two other passengers could be found alive.
“The FAA will investigate and the National Transportation Safety Board will determine the probable cause for the accident,” the FAA said.
“They’re going to keep searching overnight and hopefully be able to locate the two individuals.” Steve Strohmaier, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer