Plane Lands on Long Island Beach, Then Flips

BABYLON, N.Y. — A 26-year-old instructor and two teenagers were flying in a small plane when it lost power Monday and made an emergency landing on an oceanfront beach, flipping over as its nose hit the sand, police said. None of the three aboard were injured, New York State Park Police said.

Park Police got a call about a plane on the beach at Robert Moses State Park about 9:30 a.m., Maj. Anthony Astacio said. The plane had flown out of Republic Airport in Farmingdale, which is about 16 miles away, officials said.

The teenagers, a 16-year-old boy from Wantagh, New York, and a 16-year-old girl from East Rockaway, and the pilot were not identified by police. The teenagers had been taking a lesson, according to Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board.

The pilot reported that the plane, a Cessna 172, lost power, Astacio said, and flipped after landing when its nose hit the sand.

Doreen Haviland, 49, of Sayville, New York, said she was walking along the beach when the Cessna landed.

“Imagine if this was summertime,” said Haviland, who took selfies next to the belly-up plane. “This is where we lay!”