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Officials: Human Remains Found During Search For Missing Small Plane In North Salem Reservoir

NORTH SALEM, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Police officers searching for the wreckage of a small airplane that vanished in a New York reservoir have found human remains as well as items from the plane such as a laptop bag, officials said.

A New York City Department of Environmental Protection spokesman said the search resumed Saturday in the Titicus Reservoir in North Salem.

DEP spokesman Adam Bosch said searchers are walking the perimeter of the reservoir, surveying by helicopter and using sonar.

The plane, a 1971 Cessna, went missing while it was approaching the Danbury Airport around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, police said. The airport said it lost radar contact with the aircraft when it was just south of the Titicus Reservoir.

Sources told CBS2 two people were on the plane.

A Ridgefield, Connecticut man identified the pilot as his father, Val Horsa, of South Salem, The Journal News reported. Eric Horsa said his father and stepmother, Taew Horsa, were on board.

The reservoir supplies water to New York City, but the DEP said the crash and the search will not hamper the water system at all.

"There is no threat to New York City's water supply whatsoever," Bosch said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

 

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