Grayslake man unhurt after crash-landing his plane

A 72-year-old Grayslake man was able to escape injury after engine problems forced him to land his small airplane in a southeastern Wisconsin cornfield Tuesday afternoon, according to local authorities.

The man, whose name was not released, was on his way to the Chicago Executive Airport from the Burlington Municipal Airport in Wisconsin when he realized he had to make an emergency landing in his Cessna 172.

According to a news release from the Kenosha County sheriff's office, the man tried to land at Westosha Airport just north of the Wisconsin border in Twin Lakes but couldn't make it there in time. He landed in a cornfield a few miles west of the airport at 3:09 p.m. Tuesday. The plane sustained moderate damage, and so did some of the corn in the field.

Kenosha County sheriff's Sgt. Eric Klinkhammer said the Federal Aviation Administration had taken over the investigation.