Plane crashes on Long Island, killing 2

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SHIRLEY, N.Y., Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A small airplane crashed on New York's Long Island soon after takeoff Sunday, killing two people on board and injuring a third, police said.

Police identified one of those killed as Jane Unhjem, 60, of Goshen, N.Y. but the identity of a man who died in the mishap had not been released, The New York Times reported.

Erik Unhjem, 61, also of Goshen, was hospitalized in serious condition. His relationship to Jane Unhjem wasn't known, the newspaper said.

Police said no one on the ground in the residential neighborhood of Shirley, N.Y., was hurt in the noontime crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane, registered to a man from Orlando, Fla., had taken off from Brookhaven Calabro Airport about a mile away from the crash site, the newspaper said.

The single-engine, four-seat aircraft, identified as a Socata TB10, did not hit any homes.

An unidentified resident of the neighborhood told the Times by phone that the plane struck a tree before hitting the ground and bursting into flames.

"It was like a fireball as soon as it hit the ground," she said.

There had been children playing and other activity in the vicinity, she said.

"Thank God no one else was hurt," she said.