A small plane crashed onto railroad tracks in Bethpage Sunday morning, killing one of the two people on board and suspending Long Island Railroad service on part of the Ronkonkoma branch. The critically injured victim was taken to an undisclosed local hospital. The National Transportation Safety Board also is investigating the incident. Identifying information of the victim and the survivor have not yet been released.
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Nassau County Police were the first agency on scene, but the MTA Police have since taken over the investigation.
Most of the wreckage of the plane was on the LIRR tracks near the South Oyster Bay Road crossing between the Hicksville and Bethpage stations on the Ronkonkoma line, said MTA spokesman Salvatore Arena.
The LIRR suspended service in both directions on the affected line, according to the railway’s website.
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Police say the plane came down unexpectedly just before 8 a.m. Sunday in Hicksville. The pilot reported to Republic Airport in Farmingdale that the Beechcraft Bonanza plane was having trouble maintaining altitude. “We just heard sirens”, she said. “My co-worker saw the plane upside down and said that plane’s going down”. The wing was on one side, the body of the plane on the other – and both were on the tracks.
