SYOSSET, N.Y. (AP) — An investigator says the debris field of the wreckage of a small plane that broke apart over Long Island is consistent with “pieces coming off while it was in flight” and not evidence of an explosion.
Robert Gretz, a senior investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, made the analysis Wednesday at a briefing near the crash site in Syosset.
He says a plane breaking apart in midflight is an uncommon occurrence.
Three people were killed in the Tuesday crash in a residential neighborhood. Authorities have yet to release the identities of the two men and a woman.
Witnesses tell Newsday (http://nwsdy.li/1Tu0YNz ) they heard a loud boom and saw debris from the plane raining from the sky.
The plane was flying from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Plainville, Connecticut.
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Information from: Newsday, http://www.newsday.com