Pilot, co-pilot identified in Wheeling cargo plane crash

The two men who piloted the cargo plane that crashed into the Des Plaines River near Wheeling were identified Thursday.

Stephen Ellis, born in 1971, of Pontiac, Mich., was the pilot, and Ryan Daenzer, born in 1969, of Osceola County, Mich., was the co-pilot of the plane, said Steve Mayberry, a spokesman for the Cook County Forest Preserve Police. Both died of multiple injuries, the Cook County medical examiner's officer said.

The plane crashed Tuesday afternoon as it approached Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling for a landing. Their bodies were retrieved Wednesday from the aircraft's cockpit, which was underwater.

On Thursday, workers resumed cleanup efforts at the site in the Cook County Forest Preserve about a mile south of the airport. Chain saws hummed as a crew of about a dozen workers bustled about. The plane's tail remained sticking out of the river as snowflakes fell. Chunks of ice drifted down the river as workers tended to their duties on slippery terrain.

Conditions have been challenging as the area where the plane crashed is heavily wooded and a few trees had to be removed just to get to the plane.

Workers Thursday used a pulley system and tied a cable to a tree that eventually snapped. Finally around 4:30 p.m., with the aid of three workers who dove into the river, crews removed all the wreckage from the water. The parts remain on land with police at the scene.

The plane's remains will be transported to a secure location for investigation, said Richard Waszak, chief of the Cook County Forest Preserve District police.

Meanwhile River Road has been reopened in both directions.

An official cause of the plane crash about a mile from Wheeling's Chicago Executive Airport might not be known for a year. Officials hope to have a preliminary report on the crash by next week. It will be posted on the NTSB Web site. A final report could take between six and 12 months.

Flight 988 was making an approach to Runway 34 when it crashed about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. The multi-engine, fixed-wing plane was headed to the Wheeling airport to pick up freight to be delivered to an airport in Atlanta.

It's owner, Royal Air Freight, based in a suburb of Detroit, as of Thursday still had not released a statement about the crash. The FAA said there were no reports of problems with the plane under Royal or previous owners.