UPDATE (4:55 p.m.): Federal Aviation Administration says plane is still submerged. No update on the passengers.
The United States Coast Guard is conducting a rescue mission at Moriches Inlet after a small plane carrying two people crashed into the water Saturday afternoon, officials said.
The small aircraft crashed just inside the inlet at 3:05 p.m., officials said. Fisherman in the area were the first to respond to the crash and radioed for help.
The boaters tried to rescue the pilot and the passenger but were unable to get the doors open before the plane started sinking, said Mark Averill, Command Duty Officer for United States Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound.
The Coast Guard has divers in the water trying to rescue the plane’s occupants.
Also, boaters near the inlet had tied the plane to a vehicle hoping to keep it from sinking, Averill said.
It’s not yet clear where the plane was coming from or where it was headed.