The National Transportation Safety Board has released its preliminary report on the small plane crash on the Long Island Rail Road tracks in Bethpage.

According to the report, 59-year-old pilot Joe Milo told air traffic control that he had to make an emergency landing.

Just moments before the crash, the report says the controller told him he could land at a runway at Grumman Bethpage Airport.

The Grumman-Bethpage Airport closed in 1985. According to the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary investigation, the controller knew the airport was closed but said the runway was still there.

News 12 was the first to report the details of that conversation, which the NTSB is now confirming.

The plane left West Hampton and was heading to New Jersey. The plane crashed on the LIRR crossing in Bethpage, leaving Milo dead and seriously injuring his passenger, 55-year-old Carl Giordano.

Some aviation experts say it is the pilot's responsibility in those situations to determine where to land.