Update 7:06 p.m.: According to Ed Ecker, chief of police, a single-engine, low-wing Mooney aircraft was taking off from to Taunton, Mass. when the craft's engine started to lose power. The pilot, a 52-year-old man, attempted to turn the plane around; however, crashed into the woods on the east side of Daniels Hole Road, just before 5:30 p.m.
Both the pilot and his passenger, a woman, managed to get out on their own before the plane caught fire.
Ecker said the pilot has over 30 years experience flying and flew into East Hampton earlier on Sunday for lunch with his passenger. They took off from runway 10, heading eastbound.
"They are all alert and conscious and headed to Stony Brook University Hospital," said Ecker.
The airport and roads previously shut down have reopened.
Police have not formally released the names of the pilot and his passenger, pending notification of their family.
Federal Aviation Administration officials are on their way to Wainscott to conduct an investigation. The plane wreckage will then be removed, police said.
Chief Tom Bono said that firefighters used a fire fighting foam to put out the flames because of the amount of fuel.
Bono said the department had to first push down a section of deer fence in the woods — which is down the road from the and — with a brush truck to get to the crash scene, which is not visible from Daniel's Hole Road. The "Once we got in, we were able to get it knocked down pretty quick," Bono said of the flames.
Update: It appears the plane crashed in the woods near the airport. The woods are on fire and additional brush trucks are being called to the scene. Wainscott Northwest Road at Southbreeze Drive has been closed to traffic. Also Daniels Road at Industrial Road has been closed.
Previous: A small plane crashed at the East Hampton Airport in Wainscott on Sunday evening around 5:30 p.m.
The plane reportedly burst into flames and there are reportedly two injured. Two people are being Medevaced from the airport.
The East Hampton Ambulance Association sent two ambulances to the scene.
The East Hampton Fire Department, which responded with engines, a brush truck, and a tanker, asked for tankers from neighboring departments, Sag Harbor Fire Department and Bridgehampton Fire Department at around 5:45 p.m.
It was unclear exactly how the plane crashed or where on the property the plane crashed.
Check back to East Hampton Patch as the story unfolds.
