Coast Guard suspends search for two people in water near Indian Wells Beach, N.Y.

Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead file photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Erik Swanson.

Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead file photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Erik Swanson.

NEW YORK – The Coast Guard suspended their search Sunday at 1:20 p.m., for two missing people in the water near Indian Wells Beach, Long Island, New York.

“Following a tireless search for the two individuals who remain missing, it is with deep sadness that we are suspending the active search efforts,” said Capt. Kevin B. Reed, commander Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound. “This is always a difficult decision, and we cannot imagine the pain of those families who have lost their loved ones.”

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound received a call at approximately 2:50 p.m., Saturday, reporting a small plane had crashed about a mile off of Indian Wells Beach, Long Island, N.Y.

The Coast Guard along with state and local agencies searched for more than 33 hours and saturated a 646 square-mile area trying to locate the two missing people.

Assets involved in the search include:

  • Coast Guard Cutter Bonito
  • Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead
  • An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod
  • An HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft from Air Station Cape Cod
  • Coast Guard Station Montauk
  • Coast Guard Station Shinnecock
  • New York Air National Guard MH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter aircrew
  • East Hampton Police Department
  • East Hampton Life Guards
  • Suffolk County Police & Aviation Department
  • Local commercial fishing vessels

The Coast Guard’s search will remain suspended pending the development of new information.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.


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