Here is an article from a local TV station that includes an interview with a pilot who ran out of fuel and crashed in Long Island Sound south of Connecticut. I thought people here may be interested.

Chris


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Pilot speaks out about crash in Sound

(WTNH, May 27, 2003 10:16 PM) _ He ran out of fuel and crashed his plane right into Long Island Sound.

The pilot who survived is speaking out.

Watch the story with News Channel 8's Jodi Latina
Itai Shosani had a lot going for him that helped him survive. He had a cell phone, a life jacket and some good luck.

"And realized that I'm not going to make it there and opposed to landing in somebody's house decided to leave the plane in the water," says Soshani.

Itai Shosani, a husband and father of two, crashed his twin engine Cessna into Long Island Sound on Monday.

Shosani had run out of fuel.

911 Tape
Coast Guard:Do you have a lifejacket on board?
Itai Shosani: I have a lifejacket, I'm wearing it.
CG: How many people are on board?
IS: Just Myself.

This 911 audio tape of the New York businessman talking to the Coast Guard out of New Haven picks up the drama.

CG: Is your plane still floating?
CG: Sir, is your plane still floating?
IS: Barely. Just a piece of it.
CG: Huh?
IS: Just a little bit of it.
CG: Can you hang on to that piece?
IS: I'm trying to.

The 41-year old pilot was flying from Florida to New York.

He was supposed to make an emergency landing at Sikorsky in Bridgeport but had to ditch.

Kurt Sendlein, Superintendent Sikorsky Airport, says,"The resources that we would have put into place would have taken 15-minutes to a half an hour to get out there."

As it was the plane was sinking.

IS: The plane is going down. I won't last in this water very long.
CG: Sir, Sir.
(phone hangs up)
CG: I lost him, I lost him.

But with a life jacket and three flares, Shosani held on. Amazingly a nearby tugboat saw one of the flares through the fog.

Shosani says,"It fired off like artillery and it was like as soon as I fired it off the captain of the tug boat hit his fog horn to say he recognized me and for the next 15-to 20-minutes they were coming at me and I was swimming at them."

The tug scooped Shosani out of the water.

The Coast Guard gave him a survival suit and insulated boots to get his body temperature up.

And after one night in the hospital he is okay.[/color]