Haunting audio shows the pilot’s final moments on the plane, minutes before the crash near New York’s Westchester County Airport

HAUNTING Audio has revealed a pilot’s final moments before his plane crashed near New York’s Westchester County Airport.

Pilot Boruch Taub and passenger Binyamin Chafetz, both from the Cleveland area, died in the January 19 crash.

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The single-engine Beechcraft A36 crashed about a mile from Westchester County Airport after departing from JFK Airport in New York City.

The audio of the flight, obtained and verified by the New York Post, has revealed Taub’s chilling final moments.

Taub reportedly requested that the plane’s ascent be halted at 6,000 feet.

The air traffic controller approved the request but said the plane had to climb to 8,000 feet in a few miles.

“Alright, I’m just not getting the performance that we expected and I’m not sure why,” says Taub.

“I can’t understand why. We climb at about 200 feet per minute, so 8,000 would take a long time.”

Taub complained of a lack of “vertical speed” before identifying the problem as a “dead cylinder” in the engine.

“So we’d like to go to Westchester,” Taub said.

“Are you declaring an emergency?” asked the controller.

Taub initially declined to call an emergency, but changed his tune just seconds later.

“I’m declaring a state of emergency. My oil pressure is dropping,” said Taub.

The air traffic controller then informed Taub that he was cleared to land at Westchester Airport.

“May Day! May Day! May Day!” Taub then declared urgently.

The controller continued to provide guidance and instructions.

But Taub then said, “If you can continue to give me vectors.”

“I can’t see anything out here.”

The controller gave a few final instructions before declaring, “Radar contact lost.”

The flight went to Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights.

Divers and boats were also deployed to search nearby bodies of water, including Kensico Reservoir and Rye Lake.

The emergency services quickly set up command posts in the area, including off the airport and nearby roads, and conducted search and rescue operations on foot in the nearby wooded areas.

However, the search was initially hampered by poor weather conditions, including heavy rain, thunder and lightning, which reduced visibility.

The crash site and both men were found in a wooded area around 11 p.m. Thursday.

A flight radar display shows the aircraft rapidly descending thousands of feet in a matter of minutes.