Tagged: National Transportation Safety Board

Authorities say they have removed the main wreckage of a small plane from an upstate New York pond, but a brain cancer patient who was on the volunteer medical flight remains missing.

A National Transportation Safety Board spokesman said Tuesday the fuselage was pulled out of the water in Ephratah, an hour west of Albany. It will be taken for inspection along with debris found in the surrounding area.

New York's top court has rejected damages claims against state inspectors who continually recertified a tour boat for 48-passenger capacity before it overturned on an Adirondack lake in 2005, drowning 20 people during a leaf-peeping tour.

The Court of Appeals said Thursday that the state generally isn't liable for "the negligent performance" of government functions unless it has some "special duty" to those hurt.