A World War II-era plane that flew in a sky-typing and air-show team crashed in a ball of flames along a wooded Long Island roadway Wednesday, killing the pilot, authorities said.

He was identified as Ken ­Johansen, 52, a married dad of two children, officials said.

The propeller-driven SNJ-2 — part of the Geico Skytypers team — was flying in formation when it sputtered shortly after taking off at 1:50 p.m. from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, witnesses told The Post.

Five planes in the squadron had taken off after the sixth experienced engine trouble while taxiing, said witness Al Alami, who was finishing up his own flight lesson at the airport in Suffolk County.

As the five airborne planes circled back toward the runway, Alami, 21, saw one of the vintage craft plummeting.

“Over my left shoulder, my instructor saw [the pilot] spiraling down, straight down,” said Alami. “He was coming head down in a spiral, and then smoke.”

The SNJ-2 appeared to break into pieces in midair before hitting a wooded stretch of Northcote Drive in Melville — about three miles northeast of the airport — and exploding in a mass of fire and smoke.

“I was driving home from work . . . [when there was] whirring sound in front of me,” said Mike Jewels, 22, who lives down the street from the crash.

“Then I saw a lot of fire and smoke jumping out onto the street. The fire was getting out of control really fast.”

Firefighters and police rushed to cordon off the area and put out the flames, the craft’s red, white and blue striped tail still visible through the billowing smoke.

“Upon arrival, the plane was on the street on the side of the woods, completely engulfed in flames,” said Assistant Chief David Kaplan of the Melville Fire Department. “We were extremely lucky here it didn’t hit the houses.”

Firefighters managed to beat back the flames, but by the time they reached the trapped pilot, it was too late.

Federal Aviation Administration investigators began a probe Wednesday afternoon.

Alami said the six-man squadron had performed over the Memorial Day weekend.

Messages left for the Farmingdale-based Geico Skytypers weren’t immediately returned, and the group’s Web site appeared to have been taken offline.

Additional reporting by Stephanie Pagones and Aaron Feis