Search Continues for Crashed Plane in Titicus Reservoir

Portions of the fuselage of the 1971 Beechcraft Bonanza plane that carried South Salem couple Val and Taew Horsa have been pulled out of the waters of the Titicus Reservoir in North Salem, NY, according to published reports.

Divers from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the lead agency in the search for the crashed plane, were back in the water Monday morning, writes News 12.

Much of the debris field from the plane has been discovered underwater.

Large pieces from the plane were spotted over the weekend, but pulling them out of the water has been a slow process in part because the waters have been cold and the pieces have been in depths of about 60 feet below the surface. The cold temperature of the water - about 40 degrees - has meant that divers cannot spend much time below the surface, reports The Journal News.

DEP spokesperson Adam Bosch told Patch three that large pieces of the wings have been recovered, and the back of the fuselage, tail and a portion of the passenger compartment have been spotted.

Raising those larger pieces will require the services of a salvage contracting company, which has been retained.

As for any environmental concerns due to the plane crashing into drinking water, Bosch said there are no such concerns.

“The water takes eight months to reach New York City [before it is treated and filtered], and it is tested constantly,” Bosch said, adding that what little fuel that was leftover in the plane after it crash has evaporated.

Human remains were recovered over the weekend and turned over to the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s office. The couple’s son, Eric Horsa of Ridgefield, Conn., has said they believe those remains are from the Horsas, but an official statement of verification from authorities has not yet been released. Additional remains were still submerged as of Sunday, according to reports.

The couple were flying back to the area on Thursday, Nov. 19, from a trip to Mississippi when their plane crashed in the reservoir a few miles from Danbury Airport where they were scheduled to land.

Val Horsa was an experienced pilot, having flown planes since the mid-1980s. The couple were the owners of the Bangkok Thai Restaurant in Danbury.