New Details Emerge After Crash Of Single-Engine Plane In Mohegan Lake

YORKTOWN, NY — A 60-year-old Tuckahoe man, flying alone in a small aircraft, crashed in a field in Mohegan Lake Thursday.

The Yorktown Police Department said, around 12:10 p.m., a message from a member of the public was received that a small plane crashed on the property of the Shrub Oak International School at 3151 Stony St.

Officers responded to the area within minutes and found the pilot of the single-engine Cessna aircraft outside the wreckage. He was conscious and alert, police said.

The school was placed on lockout, authorities said.

The pilot, whose name is being withheld until family members can be notified, told investigators he was flying to Orange County Airport from Westchester County Airport and was unable to gain or maintain altitude.

He said he was trying to fly back to Westchester’s airport, when mechanical problems made it necessary to find a safe place to make a hard landing, which turned out to be the property of the school.

Mohegan Lake Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Empress Paramedics were also dispatched to treat the pilot, who suffered minor injuries.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were notified, police said.

Yorktown police officials said Westchester County Airport verified that the pilot’s flight was scheduled. There was nothing suspicious or criminal associated with the hard landing, authorities determined.

The crash scene was turned over to the Lake Mohegan Professional Firefighters, who were going to oversee fuel remediation efforts and the eventual removal of the aircraft, once the scene has been deemed safe.

Westchester County Department of Emergency Services, Westchester County Department of Public Safety and the New York State Police assisted at the scene.

The pilot was taken to Westchester Medical Center for observation and treatment of his injuries, and the staff at the school was told that the lockout could be lifted, police said.