Coney Island Plane Crash

Yesterday afternoon, a sightseeing single-engine Cessna crashed onto the beach at Coney Island, killing the pilot and three passengers. The pilot, Endrew Allen of Jamaica, Queens, and the three tourists, Courtney Block, his daughter Danielle Block and the daughter's friend Jo-Beth Marie Gross, all of West Virginia, had started their trip from Linden, NJ. The NY Post reports that the three passengers were originally the daughter, her friend, and another friend, but the second friend felt airsick so the plane turned around and Block took her place. Many people on the boardwalk described seeing the plane fall, noting it looked like the pilot tried to land the plane in water, but was unsuccessful. Some people thought the plane was doing a trick, as it had been circling KeySpan Park earlier. A registered nurse ran down to the crash (there was no one on the beach, by chance), and found that the pilot had a faint pulse; however, he died on arrival. While it seems like there have been many accidents with Cessnas, Cessna says its because that particular model, the 172, is the most popular. The NTSB is still investigating.