RIVERWOODS — Investigators combed the scene Tuesday of a plane crash near here that killed three people and injured two others.
The twin-engine plane, which crashed about 11 p.m. Monday near Portwine and Orange Brace roads, was carrying a medical patient from Florida to the Chicago area.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, with the FAA and local authorities assisting.
Lake County Coroner Artis Yancey identified the dead passengers in the Piper Navajo aircraft as Ilomae Bialek, 75, whose husband was on the medical flight, of west suburban Streamwood and the pilot, William Didier, 58, of Cedar Grove, Wis. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
John Bialek, 80, the medical patient being transported, was pronounced dead at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 30, on Bialek, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Emergency crews quickly extinguished a small fire they found upon arrival and 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.
The plane was registered out of Eagle River, Wis., according to FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory, who said it left Jesup-Wayne County Airport in Jesup, Ga. The plane was en route to Chicago Executive Airport in Prospect Heights when it crashed about five miles north of the airport, she added.
Besides the three dead, on board the flight were also a pilot-in-training and a flight paramedic, according to Ron Schaberg, president and owner of Trans North Aviation Limited, which owned the plane. The company operates air ambulance, shuttle and charter flights out of Wisconsin, Chicago and Charleston, S.C.
Injuries to the unidentified pilot-in-training and flight paramedic were undetermined at press time.
The flight originated in West Palm Beach, Fla., shortly before 6 p.m. Eastern Time and stopped in Jesup, Ga. to refuel before continuing on to Chicago, Schaberg said.
Prior to the crash, the plane was in contact with the Chicago Executive Airport to report a fuel problem. The plane did not hit any buildings and there were no reported injuries on the ground, Isham Cory said.
The twin-engine plane is no longer in production, according to Piper’s Web site. The plane was initially designed with cargo companies in mind.
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.
