FAA investigating plane's emergency landing in Grayslake

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating what led to the emergency landing of a small aircraft Sunday evening at Campbell Airport in Grayslake.

FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said investigators will look into whether the plane, a 1979 single-engine Cessna 210, and the pilot, a 29-year-old Cary man, were certified for the flight.

"Our investigation is to make sure that the rules of flight were followed," Cory said.

She did not say what had been found so far because the agency does not comment on open investigations.

The pilot was flying from Pierre, South Dakota, to Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling when he began experiencing engine trouble, the Grayslake Fire Protection District said.

The plane landed 100 to 150 feet short of the runway on the west side of the airport and skidded through a farm field and across a bridge before coming to rest on the far west end of the runway.

Fire crews arrived shortly before 6 p.m. to find the pilot outside the airplane uninjured. A preliminary report from the FAA describes the damage to the plane as minor.

Fire crews mitigated a small fuel spill on the ground and turned the scene over to the Lake County sheriff's office and the FAA.