Indian-origin woman killed, daughter and pilot injured in Long Island, NY plane crash

New York: An Indian-origin woman was killed, while her daughter and pilot were injured in a March 6, 2023, plane crash in North Lindenhurst, Hamlet on Long Island, New York, News 12 New Jersey reported citing Suffolk County Police.

The deceased woman was identified as 63-year-old Roma Gupta and her daughter who survived was identified as 33-year-old Reeva Gupta. The news report further revealed that the Suffolk County Police have identified the pilot as Fayzul Chowdhury, 23, who was admitted to Stony Brook University Hospital.

A GoFundMe page created for fundraising in the family’s support showed the goal of $116,169, and the amount raised as of March 7 afternoon was $150,000.The GoFundMe site says, “To help fulfill a long-standing wish of theirs, they booked a flight lesson in Long Island.”

“We are raising funds to help support Reeva and her family during this unprecedented trying time, through transportation, lodging, food assistance and medical expenses. She faces a long, painful recovery, and her family, who needs to be at her bedside, lives far from eastern Long Island,” organizers of the GoFundMe site said.

News 12 reported that Police said the small plane took off from Republic Airport in East Farmingdale with three persons including two women on board at 2:18 pm local Eastern Standard Time in U.S.

According to the Suffolk police, it was a tourist flight and the flight path showed the single-engine Piper Cherokee plane that went over the South Shore beaches. The pilot reported smoke in the cabin, which he radioed to Republic Airport air traffic controllers, reported News 12 New Jersey.

The police further added that the aircraft turned its back toward the airport to make an emergency landing before crashing near the intersection of Wellwood Avenue and Fifth Street in North Lindenhurst around 3 pm.

The attorney for the plane’s owner said that the flight was purchased off Groupon by the mother and daughter from New Jersey, the news report said.

There were no injuries on the ground or damage to any homes. The Federal Aviation Administration was notified and responded to the scene, according to News 12 New Jersey.

Farmingdale State College aviation director Michael Canders says pilots are trained in emergency procedures like smoke in the cockpit or an engine fire. He says an emergency like that requires an immediate landing, but that as a plane is landing, it’s going slow and can stall causing a crash.

“So, you are near what is potentially or near the stall speeds, so if you get distracted at that low altitude, it’s very important that the pilot not lose that situational awareness, not get too slow and stop flying,” Canders is quoted saying in the news report.