Two people were killed in a plane crash near Westchester County Airport in New York on Thursday, officials said.
The Beechcraft A36 took off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport just before 5 p.m., heading for Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights, Ohio. The single-engine plane went down around 6:15 p.m. after the pilot reported having engine trouble about one mile out from Westchester County Airport in White Plains, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesperson Elizabeth Isham Cory said.
Officials said the pilot reported low oil pressure to air traffic controllers and tried to make an emergency landing at Westchester County Airport in White Plains.
“The pilot recognized that he had only a handful of minutes to try to bring the plane to a safe landing,” said Westchester County Executive George Latimer. “He was unable to do that.”
Emergency responders including Westchester police and firefighters combed through the woods and a nearby reservoir for the plane.
Authorities said their efforts were hampered by heavy rain.
“The weather was impossible,” said Westchester County Emergency Services Commissioner Richard Wishnie. “We could not use the drones that we normally would put up in the air; they were ineffective in the rain.”
According to Latimer, the FBI was brought in to help ping cell phones, which pinpointed the site. The plane was found crashed on land in the trees near Rye Lake just before 11 p.m.
Both passengers were found dead inside the wreckage.
They were identified as Taub, the owner of MasterWorks Automotive in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Benjamin Chafetz, 45, of Beachwood, Ohio, who owned a web development company.
Both victims were active Orthodox Jewish community members.
“Because of the religious affiliation of these folks, and the need to recover the bodies and have them buried by sundown today, we all felt the compassion and concern to help remove the bodies as quickly as possible, have the medical examiner do what he has to do. I’m pleased to report that the bodies have been released and are now being flown to their home in Cleveland where they’ll be buried in the appropriate fashion as their religion desires,” Wishnie said.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
Registration records show the aircraft is owned by Daviation Inc. from Willoughby.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
