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NTSB Investigating Small Plane Crash In Armonk That Killed 4

ARMONK, NY (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The National Transportation Safety Board is taking over the investigation of deadly plane crash near the Westchester County Airport. Four people were killed when the small plane headed for Montauk crashed shortly after take-off.

Saturday night, powered lights circle the crashed, a charred Cessna and four bodies in thick woods midway between an office park and the end of Airport Runway 16.

"They had to get their equipment in there so it took a little time," said Peter Fuscowith the DEP Police Department.

It was a Cessna 210 that took off from Westchester County Airport with the four on board. The flight, from Harrison to Montauk at the far end of Long Island, encountered trouble right away.

1010 WINS' Kathleen Maloney reports: Cause Of Fatal Plane Crash Under Investigation

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The plane's pilot radioed to advise he was returning to the airport. But the plane plummeted to the ground in Armonk before reaching the runway and exploded into flames. There were no survivors.

Killed were the pilot, Keith Weiner, his wife Lisa, their 14-year-old daughter Isabelle and her friend, 14-year-old Lucy Walsh, all from Manhattan.

A security guard at an Armonk office complex on King Street made the initial 911 call after seeing heavy smoke coming from the wooded area behind the property.

1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon has the latest on the investigation.

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The pilot's father, William Weiner, tells reporters that his son was a meticulous flyer and that something must have gone horribly wrong with the aircraft.

The plane was based at Panorama Flight Service in White Plains, airport spokesman Steve Ferguson said in a statement.

The company markets flight training, rentals and maintenance service at the airport. It served basically as a garage for the plane when it wasn't flying, company president Gene Condreras said by telephone. He said the pilot "was a longtime customer.''

The plane was in a "couple pieces'' and was on fire when crews from local fire departments arrived, Armonk fire Chief Luci Labriola-Cuffe said.  "It was a fire that was pretty intense initially because of the jet fuel.''

The crashed plane is on New York City-owned watershed property with abundant reservoirs and swamp land, but officials say no wreckage or fuel went into the water.

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