Pilot Survives Long Island Plane Crash

OLD BETHPAGE — A pilot who crashed his small plane in the Oyster Bay town landfill Sunday survived and was listed in stable condition at a local hospital Monday, Nassau County police said.

The pilot was identified as Marc Capus, according to Newsday. He was the only person aboard the twin-engine Cessna 421 and was conscious when rescuers reached him, officials said.

Capus was “somehow was able to navigate the aircraft to cause the least amount of damage,” said Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino, who visited the wreckage site Sunday, in a statement to Patch.

Saladino called the crash a “frightening" event and noted it was fortunate it happened in an isolated, unpopulated area without homes or a school.

“We pray for him and wish him a speedy recovery,” Saladino stated.

Capus was found pinned inside the cockpit of the plane, which was standing on its side leaking fuel, police said. He was removed from the wreckage by a team of officers from the Nassau Police Department Emergency Services Unit and transported to an area hospital, where he was listed in stable condition Monday, according to police.

The plane was traced to Brooklyn, New York-based 850 Atlantic Collision, Inc., which is run by Capus, Newsday reported.

His wife, Cinzia, told Newsday she was alerted to the crash after returning from church and that her husband needed surgery. Capus flies recreationally and is from Bellmore, Newsday reported.

Capus crashed just after 1 p.m. Sunday at the landfill on Sweet Hollow Road in Old Bethpage, about 1.5 miles from Republic Airport in East Farmingdale, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.

A Nassau County police officer on patrol was the first to reach the wreckage, police said. The officer saw the plane descending near Winding Road before it crashed, police said.

The pilot reported engine problems, according to the FAA. Saladino told News 12 Long Island the pilot reported that prior to the crash, both engines gave out. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

Multiple agencies responded to the crash, including the Bethpage and Melville fire departments, which assisted in stabilizing the plane. Other agencies included the Plainview and East Farmingdale fire departments, as well as Republic Airport Fire Rescue.

Michael DeSantis, Patch staff, contributed to this story