Men escape Aurora emergency landing unharmed

Two California men were uninjured when their single-engine plane made an emergency landing Wednesday morning into a cornfield just north of the Aurora Municipal Airport.

Pilot Dan Bagget and co-pilot Rod Kenner were heading to an air show in Oshkosh, Wis. when they started to take off about 8:45 a.m., Sugar Grove Fire Chief Marty Kunkel said.

Their single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza lost engine power as they were taking off, so Kunkel said the plane made an emergency landing.

“They just brought it down to a soft landing in the cornfield,” Kunkel said.

The plane suffered “significant damage,” Kunkel said, and will remain in the field about 300 yards north of the runway until investigators from the National Transportation Safety Bureau and the Federal Aviation Administration can evaluate the scene. The plane is not visible from any of the roads bordering the airport.

Neither Bagget, 66, of Mountain View, Cal., nor Kenner, 65, of Walnut Creek, Cal. was injured in the emergency landing.

The Sugar Grove Fire Department, Aurora police and the Kane County Sheriff's office responded to the incident. Aurora police are handling the initial investigation, while the FAA will conduct a follow-up investigation, authorities said.