East Hampton Town police were called to the Montauk Airport just after 8 p.m. on Aug. 26, after receiving a report of a plane crash.
Officers found a Cirrus SR20, a small aircraft seating four to five passengers, in woods just off the runway, and observed “obvious damage to the entire aircraft.”
The pilot, James H. Liem of Maspeth, 49, and his three passengers, Alana Liem, 20, Ella Katie Bloom, 20, and Brian William Daley, 57, were found uninjured, outside the plane, which had reportedly been rented from Nassau Flyers, a Farmingdale-based flight school.
Mr. Liem told police he’d “made a loop in the air” while approaching the runway and then realized he might not have enough room to land. Rather than head up into the air again, he said, he tried to brake, which he called “the wrong choice.” The plane skidded off the runway and into the woods.
Montauk fire chiefs cleared the scene and checked the runway for debris, and an aircraft mechanic was called in to secure the plane’s parachute and disconnect the batteries. Police contacted the Federal Aviation Administration, which stated that the airport could remain open for the remainder of the night as the plane was not blocking the runway, and advised that its investigators would follow up the next day.
