Plane crash Plainfield IL

Right down the street from where my wife works on Rt. 59.

Not really near any airport, but the location coincides with the approach path to MDW and is a fairly congested area near the JOT VOR.
 
RIP.

Did it go thru the house or just glance it and most of the house damage is from resulting fire? Sucks. Hope no one on the ground got hurt.
 
My wife texted me about it. First thing she said was there was a fire, so the plane had fuel.
 
Latest I heard was that it was a guy flying solo from Florida to Wisconsin (Maybe for Oshkosh?) stopped in TN. Some witnesses are saying the plane looked like it was in distress on it's way down, others say it was already on fire. There was some convective activity in the area at the time of the accident so who knows what happened and not sure what altitude he was at.

Sad stuff, prayers to the family involved and RIP.
 
sourdough44 said:
In flight breakup?? Engine found a good distance from the crash site, convective WX in the area at the time.
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Hmm...or possibly a prop failure, and the resulting imbalance tore engine from firewall? So sad. My condolences to everyone affected.
 
ChemGuy said:
RIP.

Did it go thru the house or just glance it and most of the house damage is from resulting fire? Sucks. Hope no one on the ground got hurt.
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From what I read it apparently hit at a 45 degree angle. I wonder if when it impacted the fuel got thrown onto the adjacent house.
 
I was over the Joliet and Peotone VOR's today at nearly exactly the time of the crash, but was IFR and didn't hear anything on the freq about a crash. There were some build ups, but no precip or convective activity in the area. Didn't hear anything on VHF Guard either.
 
Pretty sure it was a twin Comanche. Serious engine problem on one side in IMC, resulting in loss of control?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
"I could the one engine just grinding, grinding, grinding so I guess the pilot was trying to pull up and take off on the throttle, but he couldn't get it back up and just went faster and faster, tailspinning to the groun," said witness Gene Williams. "I had never seen anything like it. I've never seen a plane just lose control, tailspinning straight down as fast as it was going."

From the link above.
 
KFD said:
"I could the one engine just grinding, grinding, grinding so I guess the pilot was trying to pull up and take off on the throttle, but he couldn't get it back up and just went faster and faster, tailspinning to the groun," said witness Gene Williams. "I had never seen anything like it. I've never seen a plane just lose control, tailspinning straight down as fast as it was going."

From the link above.
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that guy said he lost an engine and then it caused him to go into a spin?
 
Kritchlow said:
Not that it was a twin, but if they had engine issues.
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There are unconfirmed reports of a propeller a few blocks from the crash site and possibly an engine. Of course, I take any witness statements with more than a grain of salt.
 
Kristin said:
There are unconfirmed reports of a propeller a few blocks from the crash site and possibly an engine. Of course, I take any witness statements with more than a grain of salt.
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Earlier in the thread, there was a link to a photo of the engine surrounded by bits of blue and white bodywork.
 
Kristin said:
There are unconfirmed reports of a propeller a few blocks from the crash site and possibly an engine. Of course, I take any witness statements with more than a grain of salt.
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This prop was reported 3 blocks from the main wreckage impact

Kathryn%2527sReport.jpg


And this appears to be one of the engines with parts of the nacelle or wing? Also some distance from main impact.

Kathryn%2527sReport.jpg
 
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I had seen the prop photo, but haven't read that any of the NTSB or local authority has confirmed that. I hadn't seen the engine. That appears to be in a different scene that strongly suggests that it left the plane before it impacted. Needless to say, those of us in the Comanche community are more than a little interested in what might have brought down this plane.
 
Kristin said:
I had seen the prop photo, but haven't read that any of the NTSB or local authority has confirmed that. I hadn't seen the engine. That appears to be in a different scene that strongly suggests that it left the plane before it impacted. Needless to say, those of us in the Comanche community are more than a little interested in what might have brought down this plane.
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So are us other Piper twin owners, if it turns out not to be Comanche specific.

Purely speculation, and difficult to tell with certainty in the propeller photo, but does that picture leave you with the impression the crankshaft may have fractured?
 
If it was N7409Y, flightaware doesn't show an IFR flight plan. I was a little north east of there at about the time of the crash and there was definitely some severe weather moving through the area.
 
GRG55 said:
So are us other Piper twin owners, if it turns out not to be Comanche specific.

Purely speculation, and difficult to tell with certainty in the propeller photo, but does that picture leave you with the impression the crankshaft may have fractured?
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I don't know what to make of that prop. It has a piece of crankshaft on it. It also was spinning because it bent both blades, roughly the same amount. I am hoping to learn something on the preliminary.
 
Kristin said:
It also was spinning because it bent both blades, roughly the same amount.
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Ehhhh...it "landed" on a paved street. I can envision how it might have bent both tips just from bouncing off the pavement.
 
timwinters said:
Ehhhh...it "landed" on a paved street. I can envision how it might have bent both tips just from bouncing off the pavement.
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So you are thinking it might have hit one blade bounced up, turned over, and landing on the second blade? I suppose that is possible.
 
Kristin said:
I don't know what to make of that prop. It has a piece of crankshaft on it. It also was spinning because it bent both blades, roughly the same amount. I am hoping to learn something on the preliminary.
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That's what I thought it looked like; the crankshaft failed at the first throw.

Be interesting to see what the investigation turns up; could be one of those rare instances of mechanical failure instead of pilot error?
 
One blade on that prop is turned 180 degrees from the other, but both prop tips are bent back in the same direction.

Not sure what to make of that, or what that would indicate as I haven't seen something like that before.

I did my NTSB internship with Ed Malinowski, the IIC. Super nice guy and from my experience with the other regional investigators, one of the most thorough. I'm looking forward to his report.
 
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