Pilot In Fatal Plane Crash Gave Lessons Without License: Feds

The pilot teacher who was forced to land a plan in Setauket Harbor in 2016, which resulted in the death of one of his students, was arrested today and charged with giving more than two dozen in-flight lessons to other students, despite having his certificate to do so revoked.

Federal authorities arrested Nelson Gomez, 39, of Howard Beach and charged him with giving flight lessons without having the proper certification.

Gomez was the instructor pilot on a plane that crashed on Feb. 21, 2016. 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, Massachusetts and was returning to Republic Airport in Farmingdale, began experiencing engine difficulties.

Ramirez turned the controls over to 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. All four people on the plane were able to make it out. However, Gerson Salmon-Negron, of Queens, went missing in the water. His body was found in April of 2016 when it washed up on the beach.

Because of the crash and Salmon-Negron's death, Gomez was forced to turn over his Certified Flight Instructor certificate to the FAA on May 13, 2016. The certificate was set to expire the next month, and Gomez was never issued a new one.

Despite not having the certificate, Department of Transportation officials say that Gomez was still providing in-flight lessons, starting on May 19, 2016 -- just days after he had to surrender his CFI certificate.

Authorities say that Gomez gave 30 in-flight lessons to two different students out of Republic Airport from 2016 into 2017, despite not having the license to do so.

Photo: Shutterstock