By Gabriel Rom
The pilot of a small plane that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Breezy Point has been identified as a retired Navy commander from New Hampshire, police said.
The NYPD confirmed one fatality, saying that James B. McGee of Rye, N.H, was pulled from the water close to the wreckage the night of Nov. 4.
Besides McGee, there were no other people on the plane.
McGee, 57, was a retired Navy commander and Harvard grad who had received his pilot’s license three years ago.
The wreckage was found about 1 1/2 miles off Beach 215th Street and Breezy Point Boulevard at about 8:30 p.m. by aviation and marine search teams responding to a 911 call reporting the crash, police said. The FDNY also responded. The plane was a single-engine Flight Design Model CTLS aircraft,
The Federal Aviation Administration said last week it would investigate the circumstances of the incident. In a tweet the National Transportation Safety Board said it would also be investigating.
A photograph released by the NYPD Special Operations Division showed the tail section and what appeared to be part of the aircraft fuselage floating in the water.
Flight data records indicated the plane left northeast Philadelphia Nov. 4 before crashing off Breezy Point.
A cause for the crash has not yet been determined.
Reach reporter Gabriel Rom by e-mail at grom@
