No answers yet in NTSB preliminary report on Prospect Heights jet crash

There were no clues in a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board as to why a Learjet cargo plane bound for Chicago Executive Airport suddenly crashed into the Des Plaines River on Jan. 5.

The report, released on the NTSB Web site, said several witnesses at the airport were observing the Learjet 35A circle to land in its final approach to the Wheeling airport when it slipped into a 90 degree bank, rolled into an inverted position, then pointed nose down and crashed into the ground in the Cook County forest preserve nearby.

The report said three-quarters of the plane was in the water after the crash, with only portions of the wings and fuselage resting above the water. The cockpit was completely submerged.

The plane's voice recorder was pulled from the wreckage Jan. 7 and sent to an NTSB lab for analysis. The analysis of the recorder was not in the report.

The report also says pilot Stephen Ellis of Michigan, hired by plane owner Royal Air Freight in 2003, had more than 7,000 total flight hours, with 3,500 on Learjet cargo planes. The first officer, Ryan Daenzer also of Michigan, hired in 2005, had logged more than 7,000 hours of flight and more than 3,000 hours at the stick of a Learjet cargo plane.

The multi-engine, fixed-wing plane was headed to the Wheeling airport to pick up freight about 1:30 p.m. Jan. 5 to be delivered to an airport in Atlanta. The FAA said there were no reports of problems with the plane under Royal or previous owners.

The NTSB has said it could be about a year before the final report is issued.