A twin-engine aircraft carrying two passengers crashed into a muddy field in upstate New York on Saturday.
Columbia County Deputy Sheriff Jacqueline Salvatore confirmed it was a fatal accident, but no casualties were specified.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Mitsubishi MU-2B was traveling at the Columbia County Airport near Hudson when it crashed about 30 miles from Copake.
Salvatore said emergency services are facing challenges due to mud, adverse weather conditions and snowfall.
The National Transportation Safety Commission announced that it has dispatched investigators, who are expected to arrive in New York on Saturday night. On Friday, New York City sightseeing helicopter broke down and hit the Hudson River near the New Jersey coastline, killing the pilot and a Spanish family on five boats. The victims include passenger Agustin Escobar, 49, his wife Mercè Camprubà Montal and three children, Victor, 4, and Mercedes, 4, who is 8. The city of New Jersey wrote in an article on X. Photos on the helicopter company’s website show the couple and their children smiling before taking off.
The pilot is 36-year-old Seankese Johnson, a U.S. Navy veteran, who obtained a commercial pilot license in 2023. As of March, he had registered about 800 hours of flight time.
