Pilot from Bloomingdale dead after plane crash in forest preserve near Bartlett
The pilot of a Cessna 172 single-engine aircraft died after the plane crashed about 3:45 p.m. Friday in a field in the Hawk Hollow Forest Preserve near Bartlett.
The pilot was a Bloomingdale man who came from Schaumburg Regional Airport and did a quick landing and takeoff at DuPage Airport a source said, and had radioed in with "engine issues."
National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson said the pilot had reported a "control" problem.
DuPage County Coroner Rich Jorgensen joined the NTSB and other investigators at the scene. The coroner did not release the name of the pilot pending notification of family members, DuPage County Forest Preserve spokeswoman Sue Olafson said.
The FAA was told only one person was on board, spokesman Tony Molinaro said.
Olafson said the coroner and Federal Aviation Administration investigators were to return to the scene Saturday morning.
ABC 7 Chicago reported the plane was registered to the Fox Flying Club, a nonprofit based at the DuPage Airport. Aerial pictures of the crash site showed the small plane in many pieces in the field, with a narrow line of charred ground behind it.
Skip Barchfeld, president of the Northwest Flyers based at Schaumburg Regional Airport, said the pilot also did only a quick landing and takeoff at the Schaumburg airport.
"All I can tell you is that that airplane did land at the Schaumburg airport earlier today but did not stop.
It just landed, taxied back and took right back off again," Barchfeld said.
"That's very common. People go to practice takeoffs and landings all the time," Barchfeld said. "I was not there when the airplane actually landed and took off, but speaking to my line people and office people, they said it was nothing that appeared unusual. He just landed and taxied back and took off. On a nice day like today, a lot of pilots go out there to hone their skills on taking off and landing, going to different airports to get experience at different airports."
Residents of Brandon and Newcastle lanes, the neighborhood near where the plane went down, reported hearing a loud noise late Friday afternoon. Others did not hear the crash or mistook it for early fireworks.
"It was really close, and all of a sudden, it just went straight down," Amy Weber of Bartlett told ABC 7. "But we couldn't see where it hit."
Steve Colaizzi was outside weeding when he heard a big boom he attributed to pre-Independence Day fireworks but he now believes accompanied the crash.
"If (the pilot) put it down on purpose, he did a good job," said Colaizzi, whose neighborhood is about 100 yards from the crash site.
Colaizzi said he estimates there are 40 to 50 houses on the street that backs up to the crash site, where he said he observed fire department personnel, forest preserve district officers, and local, county and state police walking near the crash site searching for debris.
Other residents reported seeing part of the wreckage only after hearing that there was a crash. A piece of the wing and a red blanket were visible about two blocks from the crash site, said Laura Nowack, a Newcastle Lane resident who saw neither smoke nor fire coming from the wreckage.
Diane K. Arnold of Hanover Park said via social media that she lives only five minutes away from the crash site. "I didn't hear anything, just sirens," she wrote.
• Daily Herald staff writer Steve Zalusky contributed to this report.