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Pilot in fatal crash took off from Brookhaven Calabro Airport

A Sea Tow helps pull the downed plane from water in Mattituck Inlet Monday afternoon. (Credit: Paul Squire)
A Sea Tow worker helps pull the downed plane from Mattituck Inlet Monday afternoon. (Credit: Paul Squire)

Update (3:15 p.m.): Brookhaven Town officials have confirmed that the pilot killed in Monday morning’s plane crash in the Long Island Sound had taken off from Brookhaven Calabro Airport.

U.S. Coast Guard officials have yet to release his identity, pending notification of next of kin.

Meanwhile, Sea Tow has brought the downed airplane back to shore in Mattituck. A National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said the agency is investigating the crash.

Update (12:15 p.m.): A Southold police marine unit has transported the body of a pilot involved in Monday’s fatal plane crash in the Long Island Sound to the state boat ramp at Mattituck Inlet.

The body was then transferred to a Suffolk County Medical Examiner van that was waiting on the scene.

Southold police Detective Sergeant John Sinning described the amateur built plane as a “single seater,” saying the male pilot was the lone occupant.

He was pronounced dead about noon Monday, U.S. Coast Guard officials said. Mattituck Fire Department divers recovered the body from the aircraft, according to the Coast Guard. The victim’s identity is pending notification of next of kin, Sgt. Sinning said.

The National Transportation Safety Board will be the lead agency investigating the crash, officials said.

Update (11:45 a.m.): The Federal Aviation Administration has identified the plane in Monday morning’s fatal crash in the Long Island Sound as a single-engine, fixed wing Raven — an amateur built aircraft.

(Click here for FAA information on amateur built aircraft.)

The U.S. Coast Guard found the aircraft submerged in water north of Mattituck, an FAA spokesman said.

The plane is registered to an address in lower Manhattan. Its engine was manufactured by Lycoming and the plane is classified as “experimental,” according to registry information.

Update (11 a.m.): Local authorities are saying an aircraft and at least one body have been recovered from Long Island Sound waters off the coast of Mattituck Inlet Monday morning.

Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley confirmed at 10:45 a.m. that the pilot had died in the crash.

U.S. Coast Guard officials said they received an 8:50 a.m. notification from another aircraft in the vicinity that a “small, white, experimental aircraft with a parachute deployed” had gone down in the Sound.

The Coast Guard and local police are investigating.

A Southold Police marine unit recovered the aircraft, which was being secured in the water.

Original story: Police, firefighters and the U.S. Coast Guard are investigating a report that an “experimental” aircraft had gone down in the Long Island Sound about seven miles off Iron Pier Beach in Jamesport Monday morning, officials said.

Riverhead police Lt. David Lessard speculated that the aircraft that crashed might have been a drone.

The report came in from a seaplane pilot about 9:30 a.m., who reportedly saw the aircraft go down off the shore, according to an Riverhead ambulance volunteer at the scene.

Jamesport Fire Department and Riverhead police both responded to the Sound beach and launched boats to search the area.

The Coast Guard is currently investigating the report, though a spokesman declined to comment further.

Check back for further updates once more information is available.

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Southold Town police sergeants confer with town marine unit officers after they arrived in Mattituck about noon Monday with the crash victim's body on board. (Credit: Paul Squire)
Southold Town police sergeants confer with marine unit officers after they arrived in Mattituck about noon Monday with the crash victim’s body on board. (Credit: Paul Squire)
Jamesport firefighters launch a rescue boat from Iron Pier Beach during Monday morning's search and rescue efforts in the Long Island Sound. (Credit: Carrie Miller)
Jamesport firefighters launch a rescue boat from Iron Pier Beach during Monday morning’s search and rescue efforts in the Long Island Sound. (Credit: Carrie Miller)