Plane fire at Brookhaven Calabro Airport reported, officials say

A small, private single-engine plane was significantly damaged by a fire that started after it touched down Friday morning at Brookhaven Calabro Airport in Shirley, officials said.

A spokesman for the Town of Brookhaven, which operates the airport, said the plane, a two-seat Cessna 152, had just landed and was “taxiing down the runway” when the engine caught fire.

The Federal Aviation Administration said its initial characterization of the incident was a crash-landing.

The incident was reported in a 911 call at 10:12 a.m.

The FAA and Suffolk County police said there were two people aboard the plane, which had earlier departed from Long Island MacArthur Airport. Neither person was injured.

Town spokesman Jack Krieger said indications are the pilot was scheduled to fly from MacArthur to Calabro.

Krieger said Calabro Airport had been closed as a result of the incident.

It was not immediately clear how long the airport would be closed.

Photos from the scene showed the high-wing Cessna off to one side of the runway, its wing collapsed and the cockpit section of the plane virtually destroyed.

Fire officials said that, in addition to Suffolk police, firefighters from the Mastic Fire Department responded.

The FAA said it would investigate the incident.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”