Police ID Victims Of Gabreski Airport Plane Crash

WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY — Police have identified the two men killed in a small plane crash at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach Sunday.

Killed in the crash were the flight instructor, Arieh Narkunski, 64, of Brooklyn, and a rear-seat passenger, Robert A. Wilkie, 65, of Hempstead, police said.

According to New York State Police, the single-engine plane crash took place at 11:43 a.m. Sunday.

The pilot, also identified as the owner of the aircraft, Richard B. Rosenthal, 61, of Huntington Station, was rescued from the wreckage and airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital, police said. Rosenthal is reportedly in critical condition.

The plane crashed in a wooded area of the airport, police said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting the ongoing investigating, police said.

"A Navion F aircraft with three people onboard crashed into trees while practicing takeoffs and landings at Gabreski Airport in Suffolk County, New York," Kathleen Bergen, a media representative for the Federal Aviation Administration, told Patch Sunday.

Gabreski Airport is a general aviation airport owned and operated by Suffolk County. The airport, which has three runways, is utilized by private aviation, corporate businesses and air taxi services.

The airport is also home to the 106th Rescue Wing of the Air National Guard.

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