Aurora man dies nearly 2 months after plane crash

An Aurora man who was seriously injured when his experimental plane crashed into a Florida grocery store died Saturday, nearly two months after the crash.

Kim Presbrey, a prominent attorney, died at Loyola University Medical Center from multiple injuries suffered in the crash, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Presbrey, 60, and Bull Valley resident Thomas Rhoades were on a recreational flying trip when witnesses said the plan stalled and crashed through the roof of a Publix Supermarket in DeLand, Fla., on April 1.

At attorney at Presbrey’s firm, Presbrey and Associates, said Presbrey suffered third-degree burns on his back and face in the crash.

The four-seat, twin-engine plane was consumed by fire after it landed between two aisles in the middle of the grocery store, according to a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report.

Rhoades and Presbrey were both airlifted from the scene of the crash, and three people inside the supermarket suffered burns.

Presbrey was originally being treated at Orlando Regional Medical Center with his family at his side but was transferred to the burn unit at Loyola University Medical Center.

An initial NTSB report indicated that Presbrey told an employee at a Florida maintenance facility that he was new to the plane and purchased it about six weeks before the crash. The plane had not been flown for about three years, but an internal examination of the engine did not reveal catastrophic failures, according to the report.

Presbrey was a workers’ compensation attorney since 1977 and had been president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and a member of the Board of Governors for the Illinois State Bar Association among other positions.