LIRR service on Ronkonkoma Branch fully restored after fatal plane crash on tracks
BETHPAGE, N.Y. (WABC) -- LIRR service on the Ronkonkoma Branch was restored Sunday night following a fatal plane crash onto the railroad tracks on Long Island.
Police say the pilot of the plane is dead and another person was injured.
According to the FAA, the Hawker Beechcraft BE35 made an emergency landing about 7:45 am. on South Oyster Bay Road in Bethpage. The pilot's desperate maneuver saved his passenger, who was pulled to safety by an eyewitness to the crash.
Police say the aircraft had left Francis S. Gabreski Ariport in Westhampton Beach and was en route to Morristown when the pilot reported to the Farmingdale Airport that he was having difficulty maintaining altitude. Moments after the pilot made a mayday call, controllers at Republic Airport warned other aircrafts to prep for an emergency landing, but the plane had already went down. The accident occurred three miles northwest of the airport.
A survivor, 55-year old Carl Giordano of New Vernon, N.J., suffered a broken jaw and is being treated at Nassau County University Medical Center. The pilot's name has not yet been released.
LIRR service on the Ronkonkoma Branch was fully restored Sunday night. The first eastbound train was the 7:12PM train from Penn due in Ronkonkoma at 8:31PM. The first westbound train was the 7:40PM train from Ronkonkoma due at Penn Station at 8:59PM. Both trains will be operating with delays.
The LIRR expects no issues for the Monday morning rush hour.
Earlier, service was suspended between Hicksville and Farmingdale.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
(Video shot moments after the crash by Dorian Zalasar)
A woman who works in the area said one of her co-workers heard the plane coming down, ran outside and pulled at least one person out of the plane.
"My co-worker saw the plane upside down and said that plane's going down. He told me to call 911 and then I saw him pulling somebody out of the plane and putting them on the ground," said eyewitness Luz Perez.
She said the person talked to her co-worker and said there was one other person still in the plane.
