NYPD helicopters and scuba units began searching for survivors after
discovering debris south of Breezy Point just before 8 p.m., police said.
Witnesses reported seeing an aircraft hit the water around 7:50 p.m.

A wing, pieces of fiberglass, a small plane wheel and personal items were recovered about a mile off Breezy Point’s Beach 216th St., according to sources.
DEBBIE EGAN-CHIN/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
An unidentified man was pulled from the water just before 11 p.m., a source said. It's unclear if another passenger was onboard.
One witness said he saw a small plane flying erratically moments before the crash was reported.
“It was like he was joyriding,” said John Norton, 44, a plumber who was sitting on the beach with a friend when they spotted the fixed-wing, single-engine CTLS plane. “His flight path was just way too low. It didn’t make any sense.”
NYPD Special Ops tweeted a photo around 10 p.m. of the two-seater plane’s partially submerged tail sticking out of the water. The Coast Guard and FDNY were also on the tragic.
The plane was spotted in the water as the NYPD responded with boats and helicopters to search for debris.
For a short time, it appeared the reports of a plane crash were erroneous.
“When we first got here there was a bunch of helicopters circling around,” said 21-year-old Breezy Point resident Conor Strongreen.
He said he left the beach after it looked like the search was being called off
Searchlights beam over the ocean as police look for passengers and debris.
“Then we saw a bunch more cops and ambulances and trucks flying down the road, so we came and we saw that they were circling around one spot,” Strongreen said.
Just before 11 p.m., the body of an unidentified man was pulled from the water, a source said.
“We found a man and we’ve recovered what appears to be female luggage,” said one police source. "But so far no other signs of a woman.”
Several witnesses saw the plane go down; a small debris field was found shortly after.
It was believed there was only one person on the plane when it crashed, a high-ranking police source said.
Officials had not identified the body as of early Thursday.
The tail number of the plane corresponds to an aircraft registered to a James McGee of Rye, N.H.
The plane landed in the water about a mile out from Breezy Point beach.
The plane left Philadelphia around 7:30 p.m. and was cruising around 1,000 feet before plummeting into the ocean, according to Flightradar24.com.
“We are sending someone up to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where the plane was headed, to see if we can get a positive ID,” a police source said.
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