Attorney: Whitehouse Station woman killed in Long Island plane crash

Officials say that two other people were injured, including the daughter of the woman who died.

Mar 6, 2023, 10:04 PM

Updated 410 days ago

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A woman from White House Station has been identified as the person who died in a plane crash on Long Island.
Officials say that two other people were injured, including the daughter of the woman who died.
An attorney for the Danny Waizman Flight School at Republic Airport identified the woman as 63-year-old Roma Gupta.
Police say the small plane took off from Republic Airport in East Farmingdale at 2:18 p.m. on Sunday with three people on board
Suffolk County police say the pilot was on a tourist flight. The flight path shows the single-engine Piper Cherokee plane went over the South Shore beaches. Then the pilot reported smoke in the cabin, which he radioed into Republic Airport air traffic controllers.
Police say the aircraft turned back toward the airport to make an emergency landing before crashing near the intersection of Wellwood Avenue and Fifth Street in North Lindenhurst around 3 p.m.
A video from a Ring doorbell shows the plane flying low, striking trees and bursting into flames. It crashed just 300 feet south of Long Island Rail Road tracks.
One person was pronounced dead on the scene. The other two occupants of the plane were transported via medevac helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital.
An attorney for the plane's owner says that Gupta purchased the flight off Groupon.
There were no injuries on the ground or damage to any homes.
Farmingdale State College aviation director Dr. Michael Canders says pilots are trained in emergency procedures like smoke in the cockpit or an engine fire. He says an emergency like that requires an immediate landing, but that as a plane is landing, it's going slow and can stall causing a crash.
"So, you are near what is potentially or near the stall speeds, so if you get distracted at that low altitude, it's very important that the pilot not lose that situational awareness, not get too slow and stop flying," Canders says
The attorney for the plane's owner tells News 12 that the plane had gone through numerous inspections, including one just recently.
The National Transportation Safety Board will continue the investigation to determine the cause of the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the crash.
A GoFundMe created for the Gupta family has raised more that $60,000.


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