Westchester plane crash victim once resided in Rockland County

Officials say 40-year-old Taub and Chafetz were both members of the Jewish community in Cleveland.

News 12 Staff

Jan 21, 2023, 4:20 PM

Updated 552 days ago

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One of the victims in Thursday’s plane crash in Westchester lived in Monsey and Spring Valley in the 2000s.  
Boruch Taub and Ben Chafetz were flying back to Cleveland from John F. Kennedy Internattional Airport in a small plane when 30 minutes into the flight, Taub, the pilot, reported an engine oil problem.  
The plane began losing altitude and eventually crashed in a wooded area at Loudin Point, killing them both.   
First responders searched for the plane for five hours, which will remain in the area through the weekend as NTSB continues to investigate.
Major Drew Teichman, the assistant director of emergency services for New York Wing, was part of the rescue team to find the missing plane and the victims.
"The conditions made it quite difficult - the thunder, the lightening, the rain, the cold," he said. "It took about 45 minutes to walk roughly three-tenths of a mile because the terrain was so rugged and horrible."
Officials say 40-year-old Taub and Chafetz were both members of the Jewish community in Cleveland. News 12 also recently learned that Ben Chafetz lived in Rockland County in the early 2000s.  
Cleveland Rabbi Nassim Abrin says the community is in shock. 
"We lost two of our best. Amazing husbands, fathers, friends, people. Pillars of our community. People that would drop anything they're doing to help someone else at any moment,” he said.  
Taub's funeral is set to take place tomorrow.


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