Joseph Milo, 59, dead and Carl Giordano, 55, injured in small plane crash at railroad crossing near South Oyster Bay Road in Hicksville, New York

Controller sent pilot who died in NY crash to closed airport Posted: Updated: An air traffic controller directed a pilot having trouble with his plane to a landing strip that no longer existed at a closed airport before the aircraft crashed at a nearby railroad crossing, killing him, according to a preliminary accident report released Monday. The controller told the pilot the airport was closed but said there was a runway there. "The next several transmissions between the controller and pilot revealed that the pilot was unable to see the runway" while the controller continued to provide information about its location. The controller gave the pilot information about the location of Republic, LaGuardia and Kennedy airports as well as Westchester Airport to the north. The report indicates the pilot told an air traffic controller he was "having a little bit of a problem" and would have to "take it down," according to the report.