Heart attack cited in plane crash that killed 4 from area

Investigators have concluded that a 2015 airplane crash in the Adirondacks that killed four Rochester-area residents occurred after the pilot became incapacitated by heart problems.

A report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the probable cause of the accident was "the pilot’s loss of airplane control during takeoff, which resulted from his impairment or incapacitation due to an acute cardiac event."

An autopsy performed on the pilot, Raymond Shortino, uncovered evidence of significant heart disease. The 67-year-old Rochester man suffered from 70 percent to 80 percent blockage of both coronary arteries, according to the NTSB report.  The report also said there was no evidence of a previous heart attack.

Shortino's small single-engine plane went down in a wooded area just minutes after taking off from the Adirondack Regional Airport around 5:50 p.m. on Aug. 7, 2015. The airport is located in Saranac Lake, a hamlet of tourist lodges, campsites and outdoors-oriented establishments about 50 miles south of the Canadian border.

► Read more: Community mourns after deadly plane crash

Shortino and his wife, Sharon, were killed in the crash along with their friends Harvey and Sharon Stoler, both 68, who lived in Penfield. The two couples had flown to the Adirondack region earlier that day to watch their sons play in a lacrosse tournament in Lake Placid.

Officials said that no distress call was received. The last transmission from the Piper PA-46 aircraft was the pilot announcing he was taking off.

There were no eyewitnesses to the crash, which was first reported about 6:30 p.m. when pilots from another plane observed smoke coming from a wooded area about a half mile northwest of the runway.

The post-crash fire responsible for that smoke destroyed the cockpit, and no readable flight instruments were recovered.

Investigators found the plane upright against several trees. The report said the pattern of debris suggested a “left-wing-low, nose-down impact.”

Tree branches were snapped off and an area about 60 feet long was scorched from the fire.

The plane was heavily damaged from the impact, with both wings partly detached from the frame. But investigators did not report finding any evidence that the plane’s controls had malfunctioned.

The NTSB report said that an extensive examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical issues that would have contributed to the crash.

The two couples had been friends for more than 35 years, a relationship that started when they watched their young sons play lacrosse together. They had grown closer as the boys grew up and remained active in the lacrosse community as their grandchildren began to play.

Raymond Shortino was the founder of Radec Corp., an electrical contracting company based in Rochester. Harvey Stoler was a well-known coach and referee in the local lacrosse scene and was inducted into the Greater Rochester chapter of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2007.

According to the NTSB, Shortino held a private pilot certificate with ratings for single-engine airplanes and instrument flight. His most recent Federal Aviation Administration medical certificate was issued in March 2015. At that time he reported a total flight experience of 4,620 hours, of which 60 hours were flown during the previous six months.

SLAHMAN@Gannett.com