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Suburban Chicago man dies after plane crashes near highway

FORD HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) - A suburban Chicago man who was seriously injured when the plane he was piloting crashed Tuesday night near a highway later died from his injuries, authorities said.

Lawrence Jagmin, 70, was pronounced dead at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, the Cook County medical examiner's office said. The Frankfort man died more than an hour his single-engine Glasair III went down in a wooded area near the Lincoln Highway in Ford Heights, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Jagmin was flown by air ambulance to an area hospital where he died, Illinois State Police said.

The aircraft, which crashed for unknown reasons, struck a light pole and a vehicle on the ground before coming to rest along an embankment about 5:15 p.m. about a half-mile (.8 kilometer) from the Illinois Route 394 south ramp to Lincoln Highway, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said in an email.

The FAA will investigate the crash along with the National Transportation Safety Board, she said.

Witness Pep Garcia noticed the plane was flying low just before the crash.

'œHe's like, just way too low. I was like, this can't be happening, so I guess he was trying to pull up. I just saw a big ball of smoke, and I was like, '~Oh my God. This just happened,''ť Garcia told WLS-TV.

The southbound 394 ramp to Lincoln Highway west remained closed Wednesday morning, said Trooper Omoayena Williams. All other lanes were open.

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