NEW YORK, Feb. 21 (UPI) — A man is missing and three others were rescued after a small plane crashed off Long Island.
The search has been called off for the night, police said Sunday.
Police are searching for Gerson Salmon-Negron, 23, of Queens, after the plane he was in with a student pilot, instructor and one other person crashed Saturday during its flight between Massachusetts and Long Island. Police said their search would resume at 9 a.m. Monday.
The student pilot was identified as Austrico Ramirez, 25, of the Bronx; his instructor is Nelson Gomez, 36, of Queens; and Salmon-Negron’s friend, Wady Perez, 25, of Queens. The three were rescued by Suffolk police officers, treated and released from Stony Brook University Hospital.
The group was returning from Perez’s birthday party when the plane lost power, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in the waters of Setauket Harbor about 11 p.m. Saturday.
“Officers arrived to the scene, made their way down to the shoreline, commandeered kayaks from local residents, and went into the water to rescue these victims,” said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy Sini.
Gomez took the wheel and made the emergency landing. All four were able to escape the plane in the water. But by the time police were able to reach the men, Salmon-Negron was missing.
Arlene Salac, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the FAA is investigating and the National Transportation Safety Board will determine the probable cause.
