3 dead in small plane crash in Long Island neighbourhood

SYOSSET, N.Y. – Officials say three people are dead after a small plane broke up mid-flight, scattering debris across a residential Long Island neighbourhood.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Robert Gretz says the pilot of the Beech BE-35 aircraft reported an issue with his instrument panel before the plane went down in Syosset Tuesday afternoon.

Gretz says two men and a woman on board were killed. He says investigators are still collecting pieces of the plane. The debris field stretches about two miles.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the plane took off from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and was headed to Robertson Field, an airport in Plainville, Connecticut.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the aircraft to break up.