"It Could Have Been A Lot Worse': Man Runs To Help After Plane Crash

SHELTER ISLAND, NY — A small plane crashed on Shelter Island Thursday afternoon, police said — and for one man, the experience was déjà vu.

Shelter Island Police confirmed the crash, which took place on the Klenawicus airstrip at 12:11 p.m.

According to police, pilot Michael Eli Noam, 78, of New Milford, CT, and passenger Nadine Strossen, 74, of New Milford, CT, crashed near the Klenawicus airstrip on Shelter Island. Police said they found a 1974 Cessna 182P Skylane, operated by Noam, located in a grassy lot across Burns Road and north of the airstrip.

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Shelter Island resident Brian Lechmanski was with his son Jake when he knew something was amiss — he told Patch he knew the plane was going to crash.

“It was kind of crazy,” he said. “I’ve seen this happen before, and I was standing in the same spot, when I was a little kid, 35 years ago. Now I saw this happen today, with my 5-year-old son. It was ironic, that we were standing in the same place. We repeated history.”

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Lechmanski said he had called 911 Thursday before the plane even crashed. Because he’s lived across the street from the airfield his whole life, he knew that the plane was “coming in too fast, in the wrong direction, with the wind,” he said. “I told my son to stay with my wife — and then I ran across the street; I wanted to help them.”

Neither the pilot nor the pilot’s wife was hurt, he said. “They fared pretty well,” he said. “It could have been a whole lot worse.”

Describing the damage, Lechmanski said the front nose wheel ripped off, and the wing and propeller “smashed.”

Lechmanski, a longtime Shelter Island firefighter and chief, said he and others, including James Cogan, spent hours after the crash helping to tow the plane to the hangar and then, getting it tied down so that the aircraft would be safe until the couple decided how to proceed.

“Everyone went above and beyond, and was very interested in helping them,” Lechmanski said. “They couldn’t believe how fast everything happened — and how willing everyone was to help. They were amazed by that.”

Lechmanski described the crash to Patch. “I was in my yard, having lunch outside with my son, when I heard the plane flying overhead. I knew it was at an altitude that meant they were trying to land. Then, I saw the flaps going down, so I knew they were going to attempt to land. I asked my son, ‘Jake, do you want to see the plane land?'”

Father and son were standing by the road when the pilot, he said, went in one direction and then, tried to land in the other direction. Landing at the airstrip, Lechmanski said, is “tricky,” with the wind and trees.

Noam, he said, aborted the first landing attempt and tried to come back the other way. But due to the speed of the aircraft and the limited length of the runway, Lechmanski said, “He didn’t have enough runway to do anything but crash. It was a wild scene.”

Having dedicated more than a decade to the fire department, Lechmanski said he didn’t feel fear. “It didn’t bother me,” he said, adding that he’s seen more than his share of horrific situations. “Another person might have been traumatized, but I was ready to jump in and help them out.”

His son, he said, stood with his wife, helping to direct traffic and telling everyone he saw: “The plane had no brakes. He’s 5 — that was his interpretation.”

Reflecting on what could have been, Lechmanski said one man was coming down the road with a trailer when the plane started to fall from the sky. “He came within 50 feet of being hit by that plane,” he said. “Thank God no one else was on that road. I’m so grateful they were not hurt and no one else was hurt.”

The pilot landed on a grassy parcel directly across from the runway — but also within feet of a pond. “I told him, ‘It’s a blessing you stopped when you did. I didn’t feel like going into the swamp to pull you out,” Lechmanski said, smiling. “It gets mucky in there.”

In all seriousness, he added: “They were blessed, not to be hurt.”

Lechmanski also said the entire incident was a testament to the heart and caring of the Shelter Island community. “A bunch of good, local people, including myself, dedicated their afternoon to making sure the people and the plane were properly taken care of, after the incident,” he said.

The fixed-wing single engine aircraft left from Danbury, Connecticut, and was landing on Shelter Island, police said.

During the landing, the pilot made what is referred to as, “a poor aeronautical decision,” and miscalculated the strip length and wind conditions, police said. The aircraft made contact with the paved portion of Burns Road when the pilot was unable to bring the aircraft to a stop on the airstrip, police said.

The plane’s front wheel was torn loose from the aircraft as it proceeded over the roadway and crashed nose-first into a grass lot, police said.

Neither the pilot nor the passenger were hurt, police also said.

The Federal Aviation Administration was notified, and released the scene for the aircraft to be removed; the FAA will make the final determination as to the cause and events surrounding the incident, but the crash appears to be non-criminal and accidental, police said.


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