Police ID 4 Men On Board Crashed Plane, Search Continues For Missing Passenger

SETAUKET, NY- Police have identified the four men who were on board a small plane that crashed just off Long Island’s North Shore Saturday night.

Three of the men were rescued from Setauket Harbor following the crash, but one remains missing as of Sunday afternoon, Suffolk Police said.

According to police, a student pilot, 25-year-old Austricio Ramirez, was flying the Piper Archer four-seat fixed wing aircraft when the plane, which departed from Fitchburg, Mass. and was returning to Republic Airport in Farmingdale, began experiencing engine difficulties.

Ramirez turned the controls over to the instructor pilot, 36-year-old Nelson Gomez, who was then forced to make an emergency landing in the harbor close to the shore between Poquott and Strongs Neck at about 11:05 p.m., police said.

All four men on board were able to exit the plane after the crash into the 37-degree waters. Ramirez, of the Bronx, Gomez, of Queens, and 25-year-old Wady Perez, of Queens, were all rescued by Suffolk County Police officers and taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where they were treated and released, police said.

The fourth man on the plane, Gerson Salmon-Negron, of Queens, remains missing. Police, Coast Guard and fire department crews searched overnight for the 23-year-old. The Coast Guard called off its search for Salmon-Negron at 10:20 a.m. Sunday, but Suffolk Police are continuing to look for him.

Officers from the Sixth Precinct, officers, including divers, from the Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau, Suffolk County Police Aviation officers, multiple volunteer fire departments, including divers, and the Brookhaven Town Harbormaster have been involved in the search and rescue operations.

Photo/video by Andrew Tetreault/Fully Involved Media Group