A small plane carrying a man and teen girl crashed into the Long Island Sound off Connecticut on Sunday and sank — but both occupants miraculously survived the harrowing ordeal with only cuts, authorities said.
The six-seater Piper PA-32 went down near Thimble Islands about 10 minutes into its takeoff from Bridgeport around 10:30 a.m., according to federal officials and a Newsday report.
Leading up to the crash, the occupants put out a desperate call for help and were directed to Tweed New Haven Airport, where they were told to go for an emergency landing, but they couldn’t make it, the outlet reported.
The plane went into the water near the town of Branford, and sank, while its occupants suffered minor injuries, including cuts on their hands and face and cold water exposure, the Coast Guard said in an email.
The man, 41, and girl, 17, were taken to Stony Creek Pier for treatment by EMS personnel before going to Yale New Haven Hospital, the Coast Guard said.
The Coast Guard took about 15 minutes to reach the crash site and got the two survivors out of the water with the help of a good Samaritan, a Coast Guard spokesman also told NBC Connecticut.
The emergency call initially came over as a “boat taking on water” before a dispatcher determined it was a plane sinking, Branford Fire Department Deputy Chief Jason Karpovich told The Post.
The plane was underwater by the time fire officials reached the scene in one of their rescue boats about 25 minutes after the crash, he said.
The Piper PA-32 is a six-seat, single-engine aircraft that is made by Piper Aircraft.
More information about what caused the crash is not immediately known. The FAA is investigating.
