Unscathed in Seaplane Crash-Landing
Three men walked away unharmed after the amphibious plane they were in crash-landed in Little Peconic Bay off Towd Point in North Sea on Tuesday at 10:07 a.m.
The men were "practicing pilot training" at the time of the crash, and lost altitude during a maneuver, according to Detective Sgt. Randy Hintze of the Southampton Town Police. The cause of the crash is not yet known.
The seaplane, a Cessna CE 208, is registered to Shoreline Aviation, based at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Bridgeport and Stratford, Conn. Shoreline is the company that advertises charter service to East Hampton from Manhattan's 23rd Street Seaport for $365 one way every weekend from May 15 to Columbus Day.
Although calls to Shoreline were not returned, Joan, a receptionist who would not give her last name, said, "The pilot was training government employees [under a government contract] and they made a hard landing in the water." She would not provide the pilot's name.
The seaplane that crashed is a high wing, single-engine, turbo-prop machine, according to Todd Gunther, an investigator with National Transportation Safety Board.
When police arrived at the scene the plane was submerged in 30 feet of water, about a mile off the shore of North Sea, Detective Hintze said.
The plane's occupants were safely on Towd Point, already rescued from the wreckage by some fishermen, when Southampton Town police arrived at the scene, according to Detective Hintze.
The seaplane suffered "substantial damage," according to Jim Peters, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration's eastern regional office.
"Even the F.A.A. inspectors said these guys should go to church!" Detective Hintze said on Tuesday.
Police and the National Transportation Safety Board would not release the names of the pilot and two passengers. The F.A.A., which is assisting the transportation safety board in its investigation, said that "bylaws preclude the F.A.A. from issuing the names of the crew," according to Mr. Peters.
Southampton bay constables, the North Sea Fire Department, including the Sag Harbor Fire Department's dive team, and Southampton ambulance volunteers also responded to the scene. The pilot and the passengers refused medical attention, Detective Hintze said.
Since the investigation has just begun, police said, they knew only that the plane took off from a Connecticut airport. Shoreline's aircrafts are maintained by Connecticut Jet, which is based at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Bridgeport.
The plane was to be removed from the bay yesterday by barges and then taken to a secured, out-of-state storage facility, Mr. Gunther said.
"The fuel has been contained in the fuel bags," Lt. j.g. Kristopher Tsairis of the United States Coast Guard said, and thus does not seem to have leaked into the bay.
"Shoreline Aviation is responsible for removing the aircraft from the water," Mr. Peters said yesterday.
Once the plane is at the storage facility, the National Transportation Safety Board will inspect it and try to determine the cause of the crash. The F.A.A. will conduct the "tandem investigation" into the plane's maintenance history and the pilot's performance.
Paul Cox, an aviation safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, was at the accident site at press time yesterday, according to Mr. Gunther. A preliminary report is expected within two weeks.