Vintage plane’s horrifying death spiral captured on video
WATCH: A passerby captured the final seconds before a vintage plane crashed along the border of Dix Hills and Melville on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/NjdoeV9SNi — CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) May 30, 2018
A stomach-churning video shows the moment a World War II-era plane spiraled out of the sky over Long Island Wednesday afternoon, dooming its pilot, according to a report.
The 34-second clip obtained by CBS New York shows the propeller-driven SNJ-2 freefalling over Melville, LI, around 1:55 p.m.
The vintage craft — part of the six-plane Geico Skytypers air show team — crashed into the ground minutes after takeoff from Republic Airport, exploding into a mass of flames and smoke.
Pilot Ken Johansen – a Navy veteran who flew for an airline – was the only passenger on board the plane, officials said.
Investigators are probing the cause of the deadly crash.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona