A small plane crashed Thursday night near the Westchester County Airport in New York, killing both people on board, officials told the New Haven Register.
The two people killed have yet to be officially identified by local police, but local officials say the pilot and passenger were members of the Jewish community in Cleveland, according to New York-based news outlet ABC7.
New York's CBS2 media outlet spoke to the owner of the plane, who runs Daviation, a company in Willoughby, Ohio, who said that the people on board the plane lived in the Cleveland area and were experienced pilots.
Circumstances of the crash
The single-engine Beechcraft A36 vanished from radar shortly after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City, Elizabeth Isham Cory, spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration told the Register.
My thoughts & prayers are with the families tonight as they deal with this tragedy. Westchester County officials confirm to News 12 they've found the missing plane and bodies of the pilot and passenger, who did not survive the crash, in Armonk, NY. @News12CT pic.twitter.com/dYoPOFC8pw
— Shosh Bedrosian (@ShoshBedrosian) January 20, 2023
Police told ABC7 that the plane left JFK just before 5:00 p.m. and was headed to Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights, Ohio.
A call was made around 5:25 p.m. to Westchester County Airport to report low oil pressure, according to ABC7. Five minutes later, the airport reportedly lost contact with the plane.
Massive search underway for a plane that lost contact with Westchester Airport | @News12WC pic.twitter.com/mibPVZSUL3
— Jonathan Gordon (@JGordonTV) January 19, 2023
ABC7 reports that the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the crash.