Small plane crashes near Queens-Long Island border

A Cessna 172N Skyhawk crash landed in a residential neighborhood near the Queens border. No one was killed. Photo by Durksteel via Wikimedia.

Associated Press

Police in Nassau County said a small plane carrying three people crashed down just blocks away from the Queens-Long Island border on Sunday night.

Newsday first reported that a disoriented pilot flying a rented single-engine plane ran out of fuel and clipped the roof of Revival Outreach Ministries on Hillside Avenue in Valley Stream, Long Island before coming down in front of a home on Clarendon Drive just after 10 p.m.

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said the three passengers on board, all from Flushing, were associated with a flight school at Republic Airport in Farmingdale. He identified the pilot as Dongl Kim, 27, and the passengers as Hung Joo-Na, 29 and Jung Woo, 26. He said the plane had been rented at Republic. All three passengers sustained minor injuries.

The fixed-wing Cessna made four attempts to land at Republic — flight tracking maps show the plane circling around Queens and Western Long Island — but the pilot became disoriented and missed each time due to dense fog, Valley Stream Fire Chief Jason Croak said. The plane was then redirected to John F. Kennedy Airport but the pilot became disoriented again and the aircraft eventually ran out of fuel, officials said.

Power wires stopped the plane from striking the home, police spokesperson Det. Richard LeBrun said.

The pilot and passengers had safely made it clear of the plane and appeared uninjured while sitting on the sidewalk when first responders arrived, Ryder said.

Officials said about two dozen homes were without power.

The National Weather Service had issued a dense fog advisory at the time of the crash.

“A Cessna 172 aircraft crashed into some power lines in a residential neighborhood approximately two mile’s northeast of John F. Kennedy International Airport in Valley Stream, NY at 10:19 p.m,” said the Federal Aviation Administration in a statement following the crash. “Three people were on board. Contact local authorities for passenger information and medical conditions. The FAA will investigate.”

Additional reporting by Jonathan Sperling