Plane Wreckage Found; a Victim Is Still Missing

As the families of three of the victims of the June 2 plane crash off Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett held a joint service on Friday, police divers found the plane’s wreckage, along with the body of one of the two missing victims.



Four died when the private plane crashed about a mile and a half off the beach. The bodies of Ben and Bonnie Krupinski, well-known local businesspeople and philanthropists from East Hampton, were pulled from the Atlantic shortly afterward from among the debris, though police would not publicly confirm it was their bodies that had been found until Friday.



The Krupinskis’ 22-year-old grandson, William Maerov, and the pilot, Jon Dollard, had been missing since the crash. Still, the Krupinski family went forward with a funeral for the couple and their grandson. 



The Suffolk County medical examiner’s office positively identified the body found Friday as Mr. Dollard, East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo said yesterday.



“After an exhaustive search over the past week, the wreckage of the Piper PA-31 Navajo was located on Thursday afternoon approximately one mile off Atlantic Avenue Beach, and police divers have been scouring the wreckage throughout the day,” Chief Sarlo said on Friday evening. 



The body was to be taken to Coast Guard Station Montauk and from there to the Suffolk County medical examiner’s office.



Police divers continued to search for Mr Maerov until yesterday at 3 p.m. when the Police Department called off its search. “It was a difficult decision,” Chief Sarlo said. 



Chief Sarlo said the plane was in 40 to 45 feet of water, with about 3 to 5 feet of visibility for divers. 



The majority of the plane was removed from the sea floor over the weekend with the assistance of a commercial salvage company contracted by the National Transportation Safety Board, which took the wreckage to a secure location where it is awaiting an N.T.S.B. investigation, Chief Sarlo said Monday.



“With most of the wreckage salvaged, police divers returned to search the periphery of the debris field using the mapping data we have collected. Some smaller debris has been located and we will continue to search through that,” Chief Sarlo said in an update on Tuesday.



Meanwhile, the families of the four victims asked that people keep a lookout and call police if they find anything.



“If you are boating or beach walking and find anything you believe may assist the investigation into the plane crash on the ocean at Indian Wells Beach, please contact your local police department,” the families said in a statement issued Monday.



“If anything is found that could possibly be related to the crash at sea or on the beach please contact E.H.T.P.D. immediately at 631-537-7575,” Chief Sarlo said. 



As of press time, the N.T.S.B., which will investigate the cause of the crash, had yet to release a preliminary report, expected about a week after the incident.



The Police Department took over the recovery investigation after the United States Coast Guard suspended its search for the victims more than 24 hours after the crash. The Police Department’s senior staff put together an operations plan, which covered different scenarios based on weather, location of the site, and condition of wreckage and other variables, the chief said. “Obviously the weather and surf conditions were an obstacle the first few days,” he said. Rough seas prevented divers from going into the water in the days after the crash. 



Lt. Peter Powers oversaw the dive operation. Ed Michels, the chief harbormaster, coordinated the boats with assistance from the Suffolk County sheriff’s office and New York State Police through the East End Marine Law Enforcement Task Force. Capt. Chris Anderson and Detective Sgt. Dan Toia led the investigation. Lt. John Claflin oversaw the initial land-based operations. 



“We were faced with an extremely challenging and difficult logistical operation, and we continue to evaluate the best options available to us. The support from outside agencies has also been outstanding,” Chief Sarlo said. 



  The Coast Guard remained involved and offered support, he said. “One of their young officers did a tremendous job helping more accurately pinpoint the crash site.” 



“With no eyewitnesses and the initial flight data not providing a definitive coordinate, our search field was very large and became more focused as the F.A.A. was able to provide more data and the Coast Guard was able to make calculations based on tidal sweep,” the chief explained. “This led us to the area off Atlantic Avenue and ultimately locating the crash site Thursday.”



“We have put a tremendous amount of man hours and resources into this recovery effort, and we remain hopeful we will be able to recover the final missing victim, as we fully understand the importance to the family for closure with this terrible tragedy.”