Two jet aircraft collided on the ground at East Hampton Town Airport on Aug. 5, causing minor damage to both planes but no injuries. An air traffic controller called 911 just before 5 p.m. to report that the jets, a Citation and a Gulfstream, had clipped wings as the Gulfstream was taxiing to the ramp to park.
Police arrived six minutes after the initial calls came in. The Citation, which had been parked, sustained “significant damage,” according to their report, with the “starboard wing separated from the aircraft and resting on the ground.”
The Gulfstream, a 96-foot jet, was dropping two passengers off at the terminal. The pilot, co-pilot, and a flight attendant stayed on board during the investigation, but the passengers left the airport before police arrived. That jet was also damaged, although not as severely as the Citation.
Seth Cooperman of Bayside and Keisuke Ferguson of Voorhees, N.J., were identified by police as the pilot and co-pilot, respectively, of the Gulfstream. John Zielinski of Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Carlos Mora of Boynton Beach, Fla., who were readying the 62-foot Cessna Citation for departure, were identified as its pilot and co-pilot.
Both airplanes were left in place to await an investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, and the airport was temporarily closed. The next plane to take off was scheduled for 5 p.m. but was delayed until 6:23, according to JPXWatch, a website that tracks airport traffic at the airport.
According to that website, 132 aircraft (jets, helicopters, and seaplanes) arrived and departed that same day, Aug. 5, a 23.4-percent increase from the same day last year.