Two dead in plane crash near Wheeling airport
Investigators have returned to the scene of a plane crash this morning that killed the pilot and co-pilot of a Learjet cargo aircraft after it crashed Tuesday afternoon about a mile short of Chicago Executive Airport Tuesday.
The bodies of the two inside the airplane have not been identified and have not been moved to the Cook County medical examiner's office, officials said.
It's believed the two remain still inside the wreckage of the plane, officials said.
Debris from the downed plane is spread over two large fields and into the Des Plaines River in the area east of River Road between Camp McDonald Road and Euclid Avenue.
Authorities stopped recovery efforts at about dusk Tuesday after National Transportation Safety Board investigators took over the scene. Pieces of the wreckage and the pilots' bodies won't be removed until Wednesday, officials said.
A Federal Aviation Administration official said Flight 988 was making an approach to Runway 34 when it crashed about 1:30 p.m. The plane was a Royal Air Freight fixed-wing, multi-engine plane headed to the Wheeling airport to pick up freight.
The FAA and NTSB have confirmed the pilot and co-pilot were the only people aboard.
The crash site is in the Cook County Forest Preserve near the River Trails Nature Center but is not near a residential neighborhood. There were no flames visible when firefighters arrived, according to Mutual Aid Box Alarm System President Jay Reardon, who spoke at an afternoon news conference.
Divers from several area fire departments aided in the search for the bodies and in recovering aircraft debris out of the river.
Grace Demma, who lives near the crash site, said she was driving home from work when she heard the explosion.
"The first thing I thought about was my mom and family," said Demma, a cafeteria worker at Prospect High School. "It's very emotional. You never think this could happen a block away from your house. It's too close."
Airport authorities do not know what caused the plane to go down, as there were no transmissions to indicate the aircraft was in trouble.
The FAA said the plane had been cleared to land and was making a normal approach over the forest preserve before it crashed. The temperature was 21 degrees with northwest winds at 10 mph and 10-mile visibility.
The tower received word of the crash at 1:39 p.m.
"Everything appeared normal until the plane went down," said Airport Manager Dennis Rouleau.
The plane had 200 gallons of fuel left on board, which Reardon said is now in the Des Plaines River.
"I'm not going to speculate" about the crash, said NTSB spokeswoman Pam Sullivan, who arrived at the scene with a team of investigators around 4 p.m. "It's too early to even narrow down what happened."
Roads remained closed around the site into Tuesday evening. NTSB officials secured the fields where the debris is strewed. The pieces will be taken to a secure location to study, Sullivan said.
Records indicate Flight 988 had left Oakland County International Airport in Pontiac, Mich., to fly to Chicago Executive Airport. The Learjet's next destination was DeKalb Peachtree Airport in Atlanta.
Royal Air Freight also suffered a fatal crash in March 2004 when a Mitsubishi MU-2 turboprop carrying a load of freight fell out of the sky in Massachusetts and burst into flames. The 33-year-old pilot was killed.
Royal Air Freight is based at the Michigan airport and specializes in both small cargo and business passenger charter service. The FAA says about 50 planes are registered to the company, a collection of Learjets, Falcons and Cessnas, some turboprops and some jets.
The company also operates its own engine overhaul hanger. Aside from the 2004 fatal crash, in which the NTSB could not determine why the pilot lost control of the plane, Royal Air Freight has a record of four minor incidents since 2000, according to FAA data.
The most serious of them appears to be when a plane ran out of fuel in 2006 while returning to Michigan. The pilot survived the crash.
Other incidents involved landing gear problems and blown tires.
Among previous crashes at Chicago Executive Airport, formerly known as Palwaukee Airport, were ones in 2006 and 1996 in which four people died in each one.
Dennis Tajer, a commercial pilot from Arlington Heights, said it didn't appear weather was a factor. He noted that there could have been a minor malfunction that didn't warrant declaring an emergency but was a distraction for the crew.
Landings and takeoffs are generally the most "task-saturated time for pilots," Tajer said. "They require the complete attention of the crew."
Rene Ituralde, a cashier at the Citgo station at River and Camp McDonald roads, said he heard a loud noise around 1:30 p.m., but said he had no idea it was a downed plane.
Over the years, nearby residents have expressed concern about safety and the airport has expanded the buffer area around the runways to improve safety.
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