Three killed in Riverwoods plane crash
RIVERWOODS (CBS) — Three people were killed and two others injured when a small plane transporting a medical patient crashed late Monday in north suburban Riverwoods.
The Piper Navajo aircraft crashed about 10:50 p.m. near Portwine and Orange Brace roads in Riverwoods, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said.
A nearby homeowner heard the crash.
"I went out to the end of the street and I saw a small fire," said Michael Dunn. "I thought it was a car that went off the road."
"I don't know if he got lucky or purposely did it, but he pancaked this plane in the trees, stopped it, came flat down. If he plowed into the tree it would have shredded the plane."
Emergency crews found two of the five people in the plane dead at the scene, according to Battalion Chief Scott Knesley of the Lincolnshire Riverwoods Fire Protection District.
On board the flight were: the pilot, a pilot-in-training, a flight paramedic, a patient with an undisclosed medical issue and his wife, according to Ron Schaberg, the president and owner of Trans North Aviation Limited, which owned the plane.
A source said the pilot, who has not been identified, and the patient's wife, Ilomae Bialek, 75, died in the crash. Her husband, John Bialek, who was the patient being transported, died on the way to the hospital. The Bialeks are from Streamwood.
The identities of the two survivors have not been released.
The plane was registered out of Eagle River, Wis., Isham Corey said.
The company operates air ambulance, shuttle and charter flights out of Wisconsin, Chicago and Charleston, S.C., according to its website.
The flight originated in West Palm Beach, Fla. Shortly before 6 p.m. EST and stopped in Jesup, Ga. to refuel before continuing on to Chicago, Schaberg said.
The aircraft left Jesup-Wayne County Airport in Jesup, and was en route to Chicago Executive Airport when it crashed about five miles north of the airport, Isham Cory said. Prior to the crash, the plane was in contact with the Chicago Executive Airport to report a fuel problem.
Schaberg said the aircraft is inspected every 100 flight hours and underwent its last major inspection less than a week ago.
It was the first crash the 33-year history of the company, said Schaberg.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, with the FAA and local authorities assisting.
It's the second fatal plane crash in the suburbs of Chicago in the past three days. Four people died in a crash of a single-engine airplane on Saturday, Nov. 26.
