NEW YORK – Coast Guard rescue crews are searching for the pilot of a World War II-era plane that crashed near Mastic Beach south of Fire Island, N.Y. around 2 p.m. today.
The pilot was confirmed to have been the only person onboard the aircraft.
Rescue boat crews from Coast Guard Stations Fire Island and Shinnecock, as well as a helicopter from Suffolk County Police department and the Mastic Beach Fire Department boat crew are conducting a search. A rescue helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod is also being launched.
“There is a debris field and an oil sheen reported in the location where the plane went down,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Dash, Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound’s watchstander at the time of the incident. “We have multiple assets conducting search patterns and we are working with local law enforcement to try to recover the people on board.”
Weather on scene was two-to-four foot seas and calm winds at the time of the incident.
