By Kayleigh Anderson
The two men who died in a plane crash at Islip MacArthur Airport have been identified.
The pilot, Christopher Kucera, 46, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and his passenger, Zachary Hatcher, 43, of King George, Virginia were pronounced dead.
On July 22, Kucera’s single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza A36 attempted to take off southbound from Runway 6 at Islip MacArthur Airport. At 6:14 p.m., the plane crashed while it attempted to return to the runway.
The bodies were moved to the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner for positive identification.
Long Island Life and Politics reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for more information. The FAA has stated that the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates.
LILP reached out to the NTSB and Suffolk County police’s Homicide Squad, but did not hear back as of press time.
A spokesperson for the airport told LILP that Runway 6 continues to be closed until the NTSB completes its investigation. Runway 15R/33L is operational. There have been some delays and cancellations on July 23 due to the closure.
Anyone with information on this crash is asked to contact Homicide Squad detectives at 631-852-6392.