According to the report, a small plane that crashed just south of Cumhuriyet Airport in March 2023, killing the pilot and one of two passengers, was brought down by an in-flight electrical fire caused by a broken oil pressure line plumbing. From the National Transportation Safety Board.

Report that does not assign blame March 5 accidentThe pilot of the single-engine Piper PA-28, Fayzul Chowdhury, 23, of the Bronx, succumbed to his injuries months after the crash, he said. Chowdhury, a pilot at the Danny Waizman Flight School at Republic Airport, suffered third-degree burns over 70% of his body, family members said at the time.

Roma Gupta, 63, of Whitehouse Township, NJ, was pronounced dead at the scene, while St. Her daughter, Reeva Gupta of Davids, Pennsylvania, suffered severe burns.

Officials said the flight was a “demonstration” to determine whether the couple wanted to take a real flying lesson.

NTSB investigators said “an electrical short circuit occurred in the fitting at the end of the oil pressure gauge line,” causing the oil to leak and ignite, leading to the fire. The report does not specify what caused the short circuit.

“Dealing with a fire in flight is very difficult, especially when you’re close to the ground and preparing to land,” said Michael Canders, director of the aviation center at Farmingdale State College.

Reeva Gupta said in a statement that she was “grateful to be alive” but still could not return to her job as a neurosurgeon assistant at Mount Sinai West Hospital in Manhattan.

“Not only did I suffer a horrific injury, but I also suffered the loss of my incredible mother,” he said. “Healing from a burn is as difficult as it is permanent. I continue to undergo various procedures and surgeries, and this will continue for the rest of my life. As I gain more independence each day, I realize that life will never look the same.”

Gupta’s attorney, Jordan Strokovsky, said: “Based on the NTSB report and the statements of people associated with this flight school, it is clear that this company has a reckless disregard for the safety of its employees and customers. The continued operations of this company or any business. The existence of this owner is a guarantee of future disasters and “No one deserves to endure this kind of pain. The Gupta family hopes that justice will be served.”

Flight school owner Danny Waizman declined to comment.

Chowdhury’s family members did not respond to requests for comment.

Investigators say flight instructors reported twice smoke incidents in the cockpit The condition of the plane months before the fatal crash.

“The investigation was unable to determine with certainty whether these events were related to the incident at the time of the flight accident,” the report states.

An instructor told investigators smoke billowed in the cockpit as he approached landing on a Jan. 2 flight, to which Waizman responded: “We just changed the cylinder. What do you expect?”

Investigators wrote that the instructor said no maintenance had been performed and the plane was scheduled for another flight.

Five days later, another flight instructor reported smoke in the cockpit and the plane was taken out of service, investigators said.

The NTSB said Waizman told the pilot that the fire was caused by “some type of spray” that a mechanic used on the engine. The report states that Waizman insisted he flew the plane and that it was “extremely good.” Once the problem was corrected, the plane returned to service, records show.

Investigators said the flight school had “no standard operating procedures, no safety guards, no safety programs, no formal safety meetings, no formal procedures to document maintenance discrepancies and their corrective actions, and no emergency response plan.”

Piper took off at 2:18 p.m. and Chowdhury went crazy.”“call for help” distress call The report stated that he went to the Cumhuriyet Airport control tower shortly before 15:00, which indicated a fire on the ship.

The plane crashed in a wooded area in North Lindenhurst, 3.5 miles southeast of the airport. No one on the ground was injured.

The report states that the last 100-hour inspection of the aircraft, produced in 1980, was carried out on January 4, 2023, and the 50-hour inspection was carried out on February 27, 2023.

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has been with Newsday since 2011. He is a graduate of Queens College and American University.