Setauket Harbor search for plane passenger unsuccessful, cops say

Police searched unsuccessfully again Tuesday for a man who disappeared after the small, single-engine plane he had been in fell into the waters off Setauket late Saturday.

The daily search was called off at 9 p.m. Tuesday, police said.

A spokeswoman for the Suffolk County Police Department said weather prevented the marine unit from using underwater equipment. Instead, they searched visually, but found nothing.

Police said they will reassess Wednesday morning whether to continue the search.

Authorities have said it is unlikely that the missing man, Gerson Salmon-Negron, 23, of Queens, would be found alive, calling it a “recovery” mission.

Salmon-Negron was a passenger in the single-engine, four-seat Piper Archer that splashed down in Setauket Harbor late Saturday.

Three other men were rescued by Suffolk police marine officers, some using marine bureau rescue boats, life rings and even kayaks from homes along the shore.

The plane, returning to Republic Airport in East Farmingdale from a trip to Massachusetts, lost power and went down abruptly after 11 p.m. Saturday.

— With Ellen Yan