QUEENS — The two men who died in a plane crash on Long Island Saturday afternoon have been identified as Queens residents, Suffolk County police said.
Cyril Mclavin, 51, and Andrew Messana, 72, died when the small plane they were flying in went down into the Moriches Inlet about 3:00 p.m., police said.
People on a nearby boat rushed to the crash site and tried to keep the plane afloat by tying a rope to it, police said. They were unable to keep it above the surface, however, and it sank some 30 feet into the water, according to police.
Mclavin lived in Fresh Meadows and Messana lived in Bayside, police said.