Helicopter down off Long Island

[Heliport]

Newsday report Helicopter crashes into water
NORTHPORT, N.Y. Two men were killed when the helicopter they were riding in crashed into the water off Crab Meadow Beach in Northport yesterday afternoon, police and fire officials said.

The two-seat helicopter dropped into the water about 25 yards off the beach about 4 p.m. yesterday, said a Suffolk County Police spokeswoman. It had taken off from Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma.

Rescue officials were unclear why the helicopter crashed. Officials from MacArthur Airport declined to comment last night.

One man was dead when rescue officials arrived at the scene, police said. The other victim died at Huntington Hospital, authorities said.

The helicopter was privately owned with only the two men on board, said Northport Fire Department Assistant Chief Arthur Gerow.

[Heliport]

Instructor and Student Killed in Helicopter Crash


A flight instructor and his student died when their helicopter crashed into the water at a Long Island beach on Sunday, police said.

The chopper, carrying only the two men, crashed around 6 p.m. at Crab Meadow Beach, Suffolk County police Officer Heidi Cummings said.

Simon Gibson, 29, a flight instructor from West Babylon, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Ronald Somers, 37, a flight student from Huntington, was taken to Huntington Hospital, where he later died.

Witnesses said they heard a pop and then saw the rotor fly off the helicopter, which then spiraled into the water, police said.

The official cause of the crash has not been identified. The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the crash, spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said.

The helicopter was a two-seat training model made by the California-based Robinson Helicopter Co. and was owned by Atlantic Coast Helicopters in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said. Atlantic Coast Helicopters did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

The helicopter had left MacArthur Airport in Islip, Peters said.