Police: Plane bumped submerged rock after landing near North Sea

The pilot whose seaplane partially sank in Little Peconic Bay Thursday told State Police he had successfully landed the aircraft, only to have one of the float pontoons strike a submerged rock and fill with water as he taxied toward shore.

As the 1999 Cessna Caravan listed to one side, the pilot tried to beach it, police said. But he lost control, the plane became unstable and then partially submerged about 200 feet from shore off North Sea.

Its left wing was left touching the bay bottom.

The accident was at 1:18 p.m. Authorities said the pilot and his three passengers escaped the aircraft unharmed.

A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman confirmed the sequence of events, saying it was the understanding of investigators that the accident occurred during taxiing. However, she said the investigation is continuing.

The pilot declined to comment to reporters at the scene. The plane is registered to V1 Jet Management of Manhattan. A call to its office wasn't returned Thursday night.

The website for a company called V1 Jets International, an affiliate, boasts that its seaplane has been used to carry celebrities to the Hamptons.

Police said the pilot, who is from Vineland, N.J., but whose name was not released, told them he left Skyport Marina on the East River in Manhattan for the Bayview Oaks area of North Sea. "The aircraft had conducted a westerly approach over Jessups Neck and then landed on the water about 2,500 feet from shore," State Police said in a news release.

The plane struck the submerged rock as it taxied toward shore.

It was unclear if high winds and rough seas contributed to the accident. Choppy seas may have obscured the rock. Boaters who witnessed the scene said the conditions in the bay were far from perfect.

Police said the Coast Guard, Southampton Town police, the town bay constable, Southampton Volunteer Ambulance corps, the North Sea Fire Department and FAA investigators were all on the scene.

Emergency workers on the scene said their main concern was the 100 gallons of fuel still aboard the seaplane.

The Coast Guard said Sea Tow had been called to remove the plane.

Little Peconic Bay sits between Long Island's two eastern forks, east of Riverhead.

With Mark Harrington and Mitchell Freedman