Small plane crashes in Long Island inlet, 2 dead

FIRE ISLAND, NY - A small plane crashed Saturday into an inlet on Long Island's Atlantic Coast, killing two men who were trapped in the sunken aircraft, officials said.

The aircraft went down around 3 p.m. in Moriches inlet, near the eastern end of Fire Island. After it crashed, it sunk in about 15 to 20 feet of water. Suffolk County police divers worked to reach the occupants for hours after the plane sank.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Erik Swanson said the bodies of two men and the plane were retrieved from the inlet shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday, about eight hours after the crash.

Swanson did not identify the men on board.

Medics had remained on the scene for hours after the crash in case the two survived, but they were submerged for hours and presumed dead because water had come into the cabin.

The Globe Swift aircraft departed Spadaro Airport, not far from where it crashed, earlier Saturday.

Good Samaritans on a nearby boat were first on the scene, and tried to keep the plane above water but tying a rope to it, but the aircraft sank.

The Federal Aviation Administration was sending inspectors to the crash site.