One missing, three rescued after plane crash

PORT JEFFERSON, NY — Three people were rescued Sunday and one remained missing after a small plane crashed in Port Jefferson Harbor late Saturday night.

The Coast Guard suspended the search at at 10:20 a.m. Sunday after 18 hours of searching and covering more than 90 square miles of Long Island Sound. One of the survivors swam to shore and a Suffolk County Marine Delta rescue vessel rescued two of the other survivors, the Coast Guard said.

The three survivors were transported to the hospital for further evaluation. All are from New York City.

Officers from the Bridgeport Marine Patrolassisted in the search for the missing passenger. Port Jefferson is across the Sound from Bridgeport and a ferry makes regular trips between the two communities.

Although initial reports indicated the plane had taken off in Connecticut, Suffolk County police on Long Island said the plane took off from Fitchburg, Massachusetts and was returning toRepublic Airport in Farmingdale, N.Y. at the time of the incident.

Police said a student pilot, Austricio Ramirez, 25, was flying as the plane began experiencing difficulties and turned the controls over to the instructor pilot, Nelson Gomez, who landed the plane in the harbor at approximately 11:05 p.m.

All four occupants were able to exit the plane and get into the water and three men — Ramirez, Gomez, 36, and Wady Perez, 25 — were rescued by Suffolk County Police officers and taken to a local hospital.

A fourth man, Gerson Salmon-Negron, 23, of Queens, remains missing, police said.

Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said an investigation into the crash of the Piper Pa28 aircraft has been launched.

“The aircraft is still in the water,” Holloway said early Sunday afternoon. “Recovery efforts are underway.”

A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium from Coast Guard Station Eaton’s Neck and an MH-60 Jayhawk Helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod were launched and immediately started searching for survivors in the Port Jefferson Harbor.

Other local agencies also launched assets to assist in the rescue of the passengers aboard the crashed plane, the Coast Guard said. Suffolk County Aviation Division located three people in the water wearing their life jackets and swimming to shore.

(Culled from ctpost.com)