NBC

Waterbury Pilot Killed in Crash Remembered as Beloved Dad Who Loved to Fly

What to Know

  • A small plane crashed in the waters off the coast of the Hamptons, the Coast Guard and Federal Aviation Administration said
  • The plane went down in the waters off of Quogue around 11 a.m., Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier said
  • Three bodies were recovered from the water.

The bodies of a Waterbury pilot and two other people were recovered over the weekend after a small plane crashed off the Hamptons in New York, according to the Coast Guard, and family members said 41-year-old Munidat "Raj" Persaud's loves were his family and flying.

The twin-engine Piper PA-34 plane went down in the waters off of Quogue around 11 a.m. on Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Rescuers recovered Persaud's body from the water on Saturday, New York State Police said. Persaud, the father of two daughters, was the owner of the plane.

“My dad was a very good, honest man. He loved flying. It was his passion,” Munidat Persaud’s daughter, Mary Persaud, said. “The only thing he loved more than flying was his family.”

Persaud was proud to be a pilot and owned a flight school in Danbury as well as Oxford Flight Training, according to the family.

“He knew the dangers. Whenever he heard about a plane crash it hurt him as an instructor. He knew it was a chance, but it never stopped him from teaching people how to fly,” Mary Persaud, said.

On Sunday, the bodies of a man and a woman were recovered from the wreckage of the plane 20 feet underwater off the Hamptons in New York around 5 p.m. Sunday, according to the New York State Police and the Coast Guard.

The plane left from Waterbury-Oxford Airport Saturday, then landed at Danbury Municipal Airport before departing again for Charleston Executive Airport in South Carolina, according to the FAA and the CT Airport Authority.

The site of the crash is three miles southeast of the Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, the FAA said.

The wreckage of the plane will be removed from the water on Tuesday.

Contact Us