The Associated Press
BAYPORT, N.Y. — A pilot and a passenger were injured when a single-engine airplane heading to upstate New York crashed on a street in a residential area on Long Island shortly after taking off from a nearby airport.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tim Sini says the Piper 28 experienced engine trouble and was attempting to return to the Bayport Aerodrome when it clipped a tree and utility lines before crashing at an intersection in Bayport at about 7 p.m. Sunday.
Sini says local firefighters rescued the pilot, 34-year-old Scott Clifford, and a passenger from the burning plane. He says Clifford was hospitalized in serious condition with two broken legs and a head injury.
The passenger, identified as 65-year-old Michael Rome, was expected to be OK. No other injuries were reported.
The FAA is investigating.