3 dead in small plane crash off Quogue coast; missing remains recovered

<p>Crews were back on the water Sunday searching for two missing occupants after a small plane crashed into the ocean off the coast of Quogue on Saturday.</p>

News 12 Staff

Oct 14, 2018, 10:16 AM

Updated 2,261 days ago

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Three people were killed when a small plane crashed into the ocean off the coast of Quogue Saturday, authorities say.
The bodies of the three occupants have now been recovered. One of the bodies was found Saturday shortly after the crash. The Coast Guard announced Sunday evening that divers located the two missing bodies after finding the wreckage of the aircraft in about 20 feet of water south of Quogue.
The twin-engine aircraft went down around 11 a.m. Saturday. The FAA says the plane took off from Danbury, Connecticut and was bound for Charleston, South Carolina.
Police have identified the body that was recovered Saturday as that of 41-year-old Raj Persaud, of Waterbury, Connecticut.
According to his Facebook page, Persaud was the owner of a flight training school. Police say the plane belonged to him.
The identities of the other two plane occupants have not been released.
Tim Carbone, who says he witnessed the crash, tells News 12 that it sounded like the plane was having engine trouble before it broke apart in the sky.
"I looked up and I saw three separate pieces of the plane, big pieces, fluttering, making their way down to the ocean," Carbone says." And then each of them, at different times, in different places, hit the ocean with a big splash."
It marks the third deadly plane crash on Long Island since late May. Back on May 30, a pilot was killed when his WWII-era plane went down in a wooded area in Melville. And on June 2, a small plane went down near Amagansett, killing all four people on board, including an East Hampton couple and their grandson.
The cause of Saturday's crash is not known at this time. The FAA and NTSB are investigating.
According to the National Weather Service, there was light rain and 10 mph winds at the time of the crash.