FAA: LI-bound plane had engine failure

They were coming home to Long Island but never made it.

Onboard the tiny four-seat Cessna bound Sunday for Long Island MacArthur Airport were four friends returning from a quick trip to New Hampshire: William Schley, 37, chief executive of a Ronkonkoma aircraft repair shop that owned the plane; Dayna DiCamillo, 33, a Longwood Middle School teacher; Robert Lothrop, 62, an employee of Schley who'd recently moved to Stony Brook; and pilot Matthew Wilding, of Stony Brook.

But shortly after taking off from Keene, N.H., the plane's only engine failed, authorities say. As the craft sputtered over western Massachusetts, Wilding spotted an open field near rural Leverett and tried to make an emergency landing.

But the plane struck high-tension wires and flipped over, falling to the ground upside down, authorities said.

Lothrop was killed. The others sustained serious injuries but are expected to survive. A pet dog on board also survived, authorities said.

"It was a personal pleasure trip, and an accident occurred. It is very sad," said Jon Ross, director of operations for North American Air Charter Inc., which rents space to Schley's company, Airborne Maintenance Inc., at MacArthur Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board launched a probe Monday. A news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday in Leverett, about 90 miles west of Boston. The board said an initial report would be released in 10 days, a fact-finding report within 12 months, and a final report in 18 months.

Little was revealed Monday about the cause of a crash involving a 28-year-old plane owned by an aircraft repair and maintenance company. Even basic details, such as what time the plane departed Keene's Dillant-Hopkins Airport, a small airfield with no tower, remained unknown.

The Cessna U206G twice made routine contact with air traffic controllers after takeoff, seeking weather advisories. Wilding made no distress call after the engine failed, said Jim Peters, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman.

"About five minutes after talking to the aircraft, we lost radar contact with the aircraft," he said. "We now know why."

Airborne Maintenance declined to comment Monday.

Schley, who shared a home with DiCamillo in Miller Place, had another home in Stoddard, N.H., but it was unclear Monday where the group stayed over the weekend. Schley was in critical condition at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass.

Lothrop once owned a helicopter repair shop in Nashua, N.H. records show, but he also lived in Massachusetts before coming to Long Island to work for Schley several years ago.

"In aviation, people go where the work is and you call it home," Ross said.

In a Massachusetts federal court, Lothrop and his wife, Joan, were indicted, and later acquitted, on charges of defrauding the federal government in their purchase of a Vietnam-era helicopter for commercial use.

DiCamillo, a tenured fifth-grade teacher at Longwood Middle School, made frequent trips to New Hampshire, "where she loves to read as many books as she can while sitting in the sun!" her website says.

DiCamillo and Schley were described by neighbors as a private couple who were away from home a lot. "They were gone so often, back and forth," said neighbor Pat Murray, "nobody would know they were ever here."

DiCamillo's family raced to Massachusetts to be by her side at Bay State Medical Center, said Allan Gerstenlauer, Longwood Central School District superintendent. A hospital spokesman said she is in fair condition.

"Our concern is that she recover fully. She is a very very good teacher making some significant contributions to the district," Gerstenlauer said.

Wilding was listed in good condition. With Paul LaRocco

and John Valenti