Investigation underway into Crystal Lake plane crash
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board have recovered the wreckage of a small plane that crashed in a gravel pit in Crystal Lake Thursday afternoon killing two passengers on board.
Jennifer Rodi, an air safety investigator with the NTSB, said the plane was taken to an airport hangar about an hour east of the crash site for further examination Friday morning. Rodi could not say which airport the plane was transported to.
“We should be done with the field portion of the investigation this afternoon or by noon tomorrow,” Rodi said. “The complete investigation could take several months.”
Rodi said the NTSB does not release a probable cause of a crash but said a preliminary report would be released in the next 10 days and made available on the agency’s website.
The crash killed 82-year-old Paul Sanfilippo, of Round Lake Park, and Hugh Scott Clark of Lake Forest. The Beech 35 Bonanza, which was registered to Sanfilippo, went down about 3:15 p.m. Thursday due east from the Lake in the Hills Airport, just southwest of the intersection of Rakow and Virginia roads in Crystal Lake.
Witnesses told investigators the plane may have been attempting to return to the airport when it began to decelerate just before impact.
The area where the plane crashed is free of trees and buildings, but rescue efforts were hampered due to marshy and muddy conditions that prohibited access by normal police and fire rescue equipment.