Israeli businessman and recreational pilot Hanan Shoshany was killed in a plane crash in Long Island, New York (pictured) Tuesday. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Israeli businessman and recreational pilot Hanan Shoshany was killed in a plane crash in Long Island, New York on Tuesday.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation by New York aviation and safety authorities. Israel’s Foreign Ministry released a statement saying it was in contact with Shoshany’s family and was arranging the transfer of his body to Israel.

Shoshany, 53, lived in New York. For reasons still unknown, Shoshany’s light aircraft crashed in the backyard of a Long Island home Tuesday morning, yards from a house with a mother and baby inside. The impact from the crash shattered one of the house’s windows, and fragments landed near the sleeping infant’s crib. The child was not harmed.

“It’s a miracle that no one in the house or neighbors were hurt,” a neighbor told local media outlets. Witnesses said it appeared Shoshany was trying to land in the backyard so as to not crash into nearby houses.

Efforts are being made to transfer Shoshany’s body for burial in Israel. Shoshany, who owned a clothing store in Queens, was a father of five and grandfather of two.