Exclusive: CBS2 speaks to good Samaritan who was first on scene of Lindenhurst plane crash
LINDENHURST, N.Y. -- Aircraft recovery workers gathered what was left Tuesday of the small plane that crashed Sunday on Long Island, killing one passenger.
There are now new details about just how two others managed to escape the flames.
CBS2 has an exclusive story of the good Samaritan who was first at the tragic scene.
As wreckage was hauled away, we now know how much deadlier the plane crash could have been. A North Lindenhurst father was teaching his daughter how to drive Sunday, when they saw the plane crash and explode in a fire ball.
"I think it will be always in my mind. I will never forget," Marusz Czartorykski said. "There was fire everywhere."
Czartorykski got in the driver's seat and raced over. He was the first to the horrifying scene.
"First, I grabbed the pilot, which was a young man. He was asking me, 'Please help me. Please help me,'" Czartorykski said.
The pilot, 23-year-old Fayzul Chowdhury of the Bronx is in critical condition with severe burns.
Czartorykski then saw a woman in the burning wreckage.
"She is going die inside the fire, so I pull her out. I took her to a safe place. She was asking, 'Where's my mom? Where's my mom?'" he said.
We now know that was Reeva Gupta of Pennsylvania. Her 63-year-old mother, Roma, of New Jersey, didn't survive.
READ MORE: Pilot issued "Mayday" call prior to deadly small plane crash in Lindenhurst
The young pilot who radioed in that there was smoke and then fire in the cockpit had taken the mother and daughter on a 40-minute trip -- known by the Danny Waizman Flight School as a "discovery flight" -- to expose passengers to the joy of flying. The flight school's attorney, Oleh Dekajlo, said he is a top instructor.
"He had multiple certifications, not only as a private pilot, then he received his commercial training license. He is a certified flight instructor," Dekajlo said.
According to colleagues raising money for the Gupta family, flight lessons were a long-standing wish of theirs. They called Reeva, a physician's assistant, an incredible, caring, selfless young woman. She is now fighting for her life.
Czartorykski said he is grateful he was in the right place at the right time.
"If I don't pull them out, they will die," he said.
The flight school's attorney said the plane was up to date on all inspections, including one in January and another just a week ago.
