A plane that crashed in the woods was less than two miles from a suburban New York airport and “perfectly prepared” for landing before falling out of the sky, but the occupants knew it was their last moments and called families to say goodbye. .
The small, single-engine Beechcraft A36 took off from JFK International Airport in New York on Thursday night, but an audio recording reviewed by Fox News Digital between the pilot and air traffic control showed the flight was doomed from the start. .
Twenty minutes into the flight, the pilot, Boruch Taub, declared an emergency. “We are losing oil pressure,” air traffic control was heard saying.
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Two dead after small plane crash near Westchester County
(Westchester County)
He repeated the emergency three more times before giving the emergency alert around 5:20 p.m. Thursday, according to the audio recording.
Air traffic control guided them to Westchester County Airport, which is about 40 miles north of JFK Airport, and was heard saying “it’s perfectly prepared” to land.
Taub was heard saying, “I can’t see anything.”
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It was pouring with rain, windy and pitch dark, at the time.
Air traffic control told the pilot: “The leak is at 10 o’clock and less than a mile. Radar contact lost,” according to the audio.
Then all communications stopped. There was silence. Another voice was heard saying, “Any word from him?”
The answer: “I have nothing.”
Two dead after small plane crash near Westchester County
(FLIGHTAWARE.com)
Passenger Binyamin Chafetz called his wife before the plane crashed in a heavily wooded area in the suburban town around Rye Lake, New York, Westchester County Executive George Latimer said during a news conference Friday. .
“I don’t want to give the exact words, but he was saying goodbye,” he said.
The bodies of Taub and Chafetz were recovered during an “extensive” search Thursday night using the latest pings from their cellphone to help first responders narrow their search to a 162-acre heavily wooded area, Latimer said.
The victims were flying a Beechcraft A36 plane before it crashed.
(TANGFLYING.com)
The two men were prominent members of the Orthodox community in the Ohio hometown and were en route to the Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights, Ohio.
Latimer said their bodies were released to their families, so they can rest before sunset, in observance of their Orthodox Jewish tradition.
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An investigation is ongoing to determine what caused the plane to lose its ability to stay airborne for another 1.5 to 2 miles.
“I think if I had a little more altitude and a little more time, I would have made it safely to the track,” Latimer said. “We’re talking about minutes, if that’s it.”
