Photo: Rob Rich/SocietyAllure.com
Three people are dead and two more are missing after a private plane carrying a celebrity contractor, his wife and grandson, crashed on Saturday near a New York beach, PEOPLE confirms.
East Hampton Police say Bernard Krupinski, 70, his wife Bonnie Krupinski, 70, their 22-year-old grandson William Maerov and pilot John Dillard, 47, were on the Piper PA31 Navajo twin-engine aircraft when the plane crashed around 2:45 p.m. about a mile and a half from Indian Wells Beach on Long Island.
“This is always a difficult decision, and we cannot imagine the pain of those families who have lost their loved ones,” Capt. Kevin B. Reed said in astatement announcing the suspension.
A Coast Guard spokesperson says that although there was “extreme weather” at the time of the incident, the cause of the crash is unknown. The crash is under investigation.
Over the years Bernard has been called a “contractor to the stars,” with celebrity clients includingMartha StewartandBilly Joel.
“I’m shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Ben and Bonnie Krupinski,” Joel said in a statement according toNewsday and CNN. “Ben undertook to get my East Hampton house project completed in the 1980s when the construction progress had been stalled due to bad management.”
After news of the crash broke, New York Rep. Lee Zeldin remembered the Krupinskis in aFacebook post.
The Krupinskis were well-known in the East Hampton community., friends of the couple told theNew York Times.
“They were people who, in gestures both grand as well as small, made a difference in the lives of individual people and the lives of cultural institutions in East Hampton and in the community,” Amos Goodman told the publication.
source: people.com
