2 Jewish men killed in New York private plane crash
Single-engine aircraft goes down in stormy weather north of New York City; pilot, passenger were members of Cleveland Jewish community
Luke Tress is a JTA reporter and a former editor and reporter in New York for The Times of Israel.
NEW YORK — Two Jewish men were killed in a plane crash north of New York City on Thursday night.
The single-engine Beechcraft A36 aircraft crashed after the pilot reported engine trouble, the Federal Aviation Authority said.
It went down approximately 1 mile from Westchester County Airport in the town of White Plains at around 6:15 p.m.
The plane took off from JFK airport close to 5 p.m. en route to Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights, Ohio. It swerved north of New York City and dropped off the radar near the airport, a flight tracker showed.
Area officials said late Thursday night that the plane had been found after an hours-long search and that both passengers had been killed. The weather was poor, with rain and thunderstorms in the area.
The men were identified as Boruch Taub and Binyamin Chafetz, both prominent members of Cleveland’s Jewish community, according to religious community news sites.
Local Jewish volunteers were at the scene to ensure the bodies were respected in accordance with Jewish burial practices, the Yeshiva World News site reported.
These are the two people that were on the plane Ben Chafetz and boruch taub pic.twitter.com/jAKPxsFLkh
— Richy Hoffman???????????? (@RichyHoffman) January 20, 2023
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation into the crash.
Times of Israel Staff contributed to this report
