AJ
October 24th 05, 03:56 PM
>From the New York Daily News:
A pilot was killed yesterday when his twin-engine airplane crashed in
the middle of the Village of East Hampton, terrifying movie stars and
fans mobbing an annual film festival.
The Cessna 411 aircraft plummeted out of the clear eastern Long Island
sky at 1:44 p.m. with at least one of its engines smoking, witnesses
said.
It clipped a tree, then fell with a fiery thud onto Mill Hill Lane, 100
feet from Main St.
"Oh, my God! I feel terrible," said actress Polly Draper, who had just
screened her movie, "Naked Brother's Band," on the last day of the East
Hampton International Film Festival when someone ran into Guild Hall
and screamed, "A plane just crashed!"
The blue-and-white plane landed on its belly and rolled at least once
before coming to a flaming stop, just missing multimillion-dollar homes
and the pricey Maidstone Arms Inn - where Draper and actors Miranda
Richardson, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick were among the guests.
"We heard an explosion and everyone ran to see what happened," said
Liliana Vecino, 56, who was working the front desk at the Maidstone.
"We saw the plane in flames," Vecino said. "One of our employees tried
to get closer to the plane. She heard a knocking from inside, but it
was all in flames and she couldn't do anything."
Firefighters sprayed fire-smothering foam on the crumpled wreck and
doused a tree and telephone pole that had caught fire.
"I was on the phone when I heard the plane go overhead very, very low,"
said Dorothy Moss, who lives on Mill Hill Lane. "My friend [on the
phone] let out a scream and said it sounded like the plane was right on
top of my house."
Village Police Chief Jerry Larsen said the pilot was the only one on
the plane, which seats eight. Larsen did not release the victim's name,
pending notification of relatives.
He said the airplane was not headed to or taking off from the East
Hampton airport, 5 miles west of the village.
The aircraft had been registered to John Schisler of Buford, Ga., but
Schisler's wife, Patty, said her husband sold it a couple of years ago
to a man from Nantucket, Mass.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation
Safety Board sent investigators to investigate the cause of the crash.
A pilot was killed yesterday when his twin-engine airplane crashed in
the middle of the Village of East Hampton, terrifying movie stars and
fans mobbing an annual film festival.
The Cessna 411 aircraft plummeted out of the clear eastern Long Island
sky at 1:44 p.m. with at least one of its engines smoking, witnesses
said.
It clipped a tree, then fell with a fiery thud onto Mill Hill Lane, 100
feet from Main St.
"Oh, my God! I feel terrible," said actress Polly Draper, who had just
screened her movie, "Naked Brother's Band," on the last day of the East
Hampton International Film Festival when someone ran into Guild Hall
and screamed, "A plane just crashed!"
The blue-and-white plane landed on its belly and rolled at least once
before coming to a flaming stop, just missing multimillion-dollar homes
and the pricey Maidstone Arms Inn - where Draper and actors Miranda
Richardson, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick were among the guests.
"We heard an explosion and everyone ran to see what happened," said
Liliana Vecino, 56, who was working the front desk at the Maidstone.
"We saw the plane in flames," Vecino said. "One of our employees tried
to get closer to the plane. She heard a knocking from inside, but it
was all in flames and she couldn't do anything."
Firefighters sprayed fire-smothering foam on the crumpled wreck and
doused a tree and telephone pole that had caught fire.
"I was on the phone when I heard the plane go overhead very, very low,"
said Dorothy Moss, who lives on Mill Hill Lane. "My friend [on the
phone] let out a scream and said it sounded like the plane was right on
top of my house."
Village Police Chief Jerry Larsen said the pilot was the only one on
the plane, which seats eight. Larsen did not release the victim's name,
pending notification of relatives.
He said the airplane was not headed to or taking off from the East
Hampton airport, 5 miles west of the village.
The aircraft had been registered to John Schisler of Buford, Ga., but
Schisler's wife, Patty, said her husband sold it a couple of years ago
to a man from Nantucket, Mass.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation
Safety Board sent investigators to investigate the cause of the crash.