Controller sent pilot who died in LI crash to closed airport

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A preliminary accident report indicates a pilot killed when his plane crashed at a railroad crossing this month in New York had been directed by an air traffic controller to a landing strip that no longer exists at a closed airport.

Pilot Joseph Milo, 59, of Westhampton Beach, was killed Aug. 16 when his single-engine aircraft hit the tracks in Hicksville. A passenger was injured.

The National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report issued Monday said Milo had told air traffic controllers that his Beech C35 plane was "having a little bit of a problem."

The controller then told the pilot there was a "Bethpage strip" at an airport closed decades ago at the site of a former military defense contractor.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration declined to comment.