Huntley man dies of injuries from ultralight aircraft crash

A 54-year-old Huntley man has died from injuries sustained after his lightweight recreational aircraft crashed Saturday in Huntley, police said.

The preliminary finding of an autopsy conducted Monday on James W. McCulla Jr. shows blunt trauma as the cause of death. Toxicology results are pending, according to the McHenry County coroner's office.

Police and fire officials responded around 7 p.m. Saturday to an open field behind Culver's, 12950 S. Route 47. They found McCulla injured from "a rapid descent, which was described as several hundred feet" in his carbon paramotor ultralight - essentially a parachute with a fan motor attached to the operator, according to police.

Witnesses said the ultralight took off from the area and the operator banked - tilted sideways - shortly before going into a slow spin and striking the ground, police said.

McCulla was treated by Huntley Fire Protection district personnel on site, then taken to Northwestern Medicine Huntley Hospital.