Pilot issued "Mayday" call prior to deadly small plane crash in Lindenhurst
LINDENHURST, N.Y. -- A frantic "mayday" call was issued moments before a small airplane crashed in Suffolk County on Sunday, killing a passenger, and injuring the other two people on board.
CBS2 learned Monday the plane was on a flight lesson, booked through Groupon by a mother and daughter from New Jersey. The 63-year-old mother did not make it out alive.
Late Monday night, Suffolk County Police identified the victim as Roma Gupta, 63, of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. Her daughter, 33-year-old Reeva Gupta, of St. Davids, Pennsylvania, was critically hurt in the crash, along with the pilot, 23-year-old Fayzul Chowdhury, of the Bronx.
There were haunting words from the pilot of the single-engine Piper, seconds before it crashed between homes and train tracks near Wellwood Avenue and 5th Street in Lindenhurst.
Pilot: "Mayday! Mayday! Fire! Mayday! Mayday!"
Air traffic controller: "No one else call into Republic tower. Emergency in progress."
At around 3 p.m. on Sunday, the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit shortly after takeoff from Republic Airport. The plane crashed less than three miles away, as the pilot tried to make an emergency landing.
Air traffic controller: "OK, please nobody speak unless spoken to. We've had an aircraft go down."
"All of a sudden, I see an explosion, fire ball, and then another explosion and black smoke," witness Kellie Watson said.
"We've been here 12 years now and it's the first time we've seen something like this," a resident named Gregory added.
Dramatic video from the sky shows the devastation on the ground.
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The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that three people were on board and that one passenger was pronounced dead on scene. The agency also confirmed the pilot and the other passenger were critically injured.
"It's always bad when you see people that injured -- the critical condition they were both in. It's tough to see," North Lindenhurst Fire Chief Kenny Stallone said.
"We're very lucky, very fortunate. I think the pilot did a great job, in my opinion, trying to avoid any houses, people and traffic. Thank God nobody else was hurt," a woman added.
The attorney for the flight school said the plane had recently undergone rigorous 50- and 100-hour flight inspections as recently as last month.
The NTSB is still investigating exactly what caused the plane to crash.