Police ID 2 Killed After Plane Crashes in LI Farm Field

MATTITUCK, NY — The two people killed in Saturday's plane crash in Mattituck have been identified as 66-year-old Robert Mark and 57-year-old Susan Quagliano.

Mark was the pilot of the single-engine Beechcraft A36, which crashed into a field on Harbes Family Farm off Sound Avenue about 15 minutes after it took off from Long Island MacArthur Airport.

The plane was fully engulfed in flames when first responders arrived on the scene around 9:19 a.m. Mark and Quagliano, a longtime couple according to the New York Post, were pronounced dead at the scene. A dog that was also in the plane escaped the wreckage and was found by a local farmer, police said.

The plane was destined for Bedford, Mass. and investigators believe Mark purposefully steered the plane away from homes before the crash.

"I believe he’s a hero," witness Ken Cooper told the Post of Mark.

Robert Mark and Susan Quagliano in a photo posted on Quagliano's Facebook page.

Federal Aviation Administration investigators took command of the initial investigation, which will be turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board, Southold Police said.