Cops: Search for plane crash victims off Amagansett to continue
Search boats on Wednesday are expected back in the water to look for two of the four people aboard a small plane that crashed off the Amagansett coastline Saturday, authorities said.
Two vessels returned to port in Montauk at about 6 p.m. Tuesday after combing the choppy seas in the area where the twin-engine Piper PA-31 Navajo went down, said East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo.
Earlier Tuesday, Sarlo said choppy seas and the threat of afternoon thunderstorms had limited the efforts to just the two patrol boats.
The conditions also prevented dive teams from joining Day Three of the search for the victims and wreckage, the chief said.
Emergency crews found two bodies Saturday just hours after the plane went down about two miles off the coast of Indian Wells Beach. Sarlo had said Monday the search was now a recovery effort.
Police have identified the four people aboard the plane as builder Bernard Krupinski and his wife, Bonnie Krupinski, both 70, and their grandson William Maerov, 22, all of East Hampton; and the pilot, Jon Dollard, 47, of Hampton Bays.
A memorial service for the Krupinskis and Maerov will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. on Thursday at Yardley and Pino Funeral Home on Pantigo Road in East Hampton. A funeral will be held for the three at 10 a.m. on Friday at First Presbyterian Church of East Hampton, followed by a burial at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton.
It was not clear Tuesday whether services for Dollard had been set.
Tuesday’s search resumed amid choppy seas after East Hampton Town police suspended the water search for the second straight day Monday because of deteriorating conditions.
Strong winds and waves crested between 4 and 8 feet over the weekend and Monday, hampering the search efforts.
Waves in the area Tuesday were measured at between 3 and 4 feet, with winds ranging from 10 to 15 mph with occasional gusts of 25 mph, according to the National Weather Service, which forecast a 30 percent chance of rain at night.
Sarlo said the conditions made it too risky for divers to look for the victims and the plane’s wreckage.
“We have dive teams from the State Police, Southampton Town and our own dive team on standby,” he said.
Police officers continued mapping the search field and placing markers in the area, Sarlo said. Nonstop shoreline search patrols continued from Southampton Town to Amagansett, he said.
“We ask if anybody notices or spots any debris that they please call the police department immediately and leave it for us to come pick up,” he said.
With William Murphy
Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.
