UPDATE: Cause Of Fatal Plane Crash Still Unknown; Investigation Could Take Months

UPDATE: Monday, 5:30 p.m.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday afternoon that they have just started their examination of a plane crash that killed two men—passengers Arieh Narkunski, 64, of Brooklyn and Robert A. Wilkie, 65, of Hempstead—and injured their pilot, Richard Rosenthal, after their antique plane crashed while practicing take-offs and landings at Gabreski Airport late Sunday morning.

Dan Boggs, a chief investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board who is handling the case, explained at a press conference at the Westhampton airport that his department only received a detailed history of the Navion model plane’s maintenance and flying records a few hours earlier.

He explained that he will spend the next few weeks sifting through those records before issuing a preliminary report sometime within the next 12 to 20 days—though he does not believe foul play was a factor in the crash of the 66-year-old aircraft.

At the same press conference, Mr. Boggs commended the efforts of the Army National Guard unit from Ronkonkoma that happened to be flying in the area and immediately came to the aid of the crash victims, saving the pilot’s life.

Mr. Rosenthal, 61, of Huntington Station, was pulled from the burning plane by the seven-member crew and stabilized before additional help could arrive. The crew also used fire extinguishers to try and control the flames so they could reach the two passengers—though their efforts were unsuccessful. Mr. Rosenthal was flown via Suffolk County medevac helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was still listed in critical condition as of Monday afternoon.

As part of their investigation, Mr. Boggs said his team will look into the airplane’s take-off angle and also examine the trees where the plane crash-landed. He noted that all three men aboard the plane were licensed pilots, adding that a distress call was never issued from the cockpit.

“I want to take a second here to give on behalf of the National Transportation Safety Board our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the victims of this tragic event,” Mr. Boggs said.

While a preliminary report is expected in the next few weeks, a final investigation report could take up to a year to finalize, he added.

UPDATE: Monday, 12:20 p.m.

New York State Police have identified the two men killed in the crash as flight instructor Arieh Narkunski, 64, of Brooklyn and passenger Robert A. Wilkie, 65, of Hempstead.

According to a press release issued Monday, the three men crashed in a wooded area at 11:43 a.m. on Sunday. The pilot, Richard Rosenthal, 61, of Huntington Station, was rescued from the burning wreckage and taken to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment. His condition was not immediately known.

An investigation into the crash is being conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board.

UPDATE: Monday, 11:25 a.m.

An Air National Guard firefighter had to be treated for a head injury on Sunday suffered while working to extinguish a fire at the site of the plane crash.

According to Eric Kehl, the chief of the Westhampton War Memorial Ambulance, the firefighter was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead for treatment. His condition was unknown Monday morning.

UPDATE: Sunday 7 p.m.

County officials have said that the owner of the small plane that crashed at Gabreski Airport on Sunday morning was also the sole survivor of the crash, according to Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman.

Mr. Schneiderman said emergency managers at the scene said the man’s name is Richard Rosenthal and that the plane was based in Farmingdale and had taken off from Republic airport Sunday morning.

The plane crashed about 11:40 a.m., shortly after performing a practice landing and take-off known as a touch-and-go. It crashed into trees just of the airport’s secondary runway, at the southeastern corner of the Gabreski property, near South Country Road.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by federal aviation officials who arrived in Westhampton on Sunday night.

Captain Michael O’Hagen of the 106th Rescue Wing said that the Air National Guard’s fire crews responded from the base to the scene of the crash and helped rescue the lone survivor, who was taken by Westhampton War Memorial Ambulance crews to a Suffolk County Police medevac helicopter to Stony Brook University.

UPDATE: Sunday, 3:15 p.m.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said that he has been told by Suffolk County officials that the plane that crashed at Gabreski Airport on Sunday morning was based out of Farmingdale, and may have taken off from Republic Airport with an flying instructor and at least one student pilot aboard.

The plane was doing “touch-and-go” landings and take-offs, a common practice drill for pilots in training in which a plane comes in for a landing but does not come to a complete stop before throttling up again to take off.

The plane crashed into trees on the airport property near one of runways.

Two of the three people aboard were killed according to officials at the scene.

“There was a small aircraft crash late this morning, at approximately 11:40, off runway 33 at Gabreski Airport,” Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department Chief Michael Sharkey during a brief press conference at the airport on Sunday. “There were three people that were on board. There were two fatalities.”

A third person was taken by medevac helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital.

The FAA has said the plane was practicing take-offs and landings when it crashed and was privately owned, not a military plane.

UPDATE: Sunday, 2:45 p.m.

Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigators are en-route to the scene of the small plane crash at Gabreski airport in Westhampton. A spokesperson for the FAA said the NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will give updates about the cause.

Aerial photos show military markings on the plane but the FAA has said the plane is registered to a private individual, not the military. Gabreski airport is home to the 106th Air National Guard Rescue Wing.

The Navion-F, or Ryan Navion, was built by North American Aviation and Ryan Aeronautical Company starting in the 1940s and was commonly used as a military training aircraft in the 1950s and 1960s.

ORIGINAL STORY, 2:15 p.m. Sunday

Two people are believed to have been killed and a third injured when a small plane crashed at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton shortly before noon today.

According to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson there were three people aboard the single-engine Navion-F model plane when it crashed into trees near one of the runways.

The plane’s pilot was practicing take-offs and landings at the airport when the crash occurred, the FAA spokesperson said.

More information about the crash will be shared as details become available.