Pilot Killed in Plane Crash ID'ed as Westhampton Beach Man

A 59-year-old Westhampton Beach man has been identified as the pilot killed when a small plane crashed onto the Long Island Rail Road tracks in Bethpage on Sunday, sources told Patch.

Joseph Milo, the owner of Joe’s American Grill in Westhampton Beach, was behind the controls of his Hawker Beechcraft BE35 when the single-engine plane crashed at the South Oyster Bay Road LIRR crossing just before 8 a.m. Sunday.

Milo was pronounced dead the scene. A passenger in the plane, 55-year-old Carl Giordano, of New Vernon, N.J., is hospitalized with a broken jaw, cuts and bruises, according to an ABC 7 report. No one on the ground was injured.

Milo’s wife told Newsday that he “did everything in his power to save his passenger and many other lives.”

The plane had taken off from Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach and was bound for Morristown, N.J., when Milo reported engine trouble. He was attempting to make an emergency landing at Republic Airport in East Farmingdale at the time of the crash, the New York Times reported.

A funeral Mass will be held for Milo at The Church of the Immaculate Conception in Westhampton Beach at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

Photo: CBS 2 report screenshot