14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, October 12, 2014 in Palos Hills, IL
Probable Cause Approval Date: 05/02/2016
Aircraft: RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT COMPANY 58, registration: N31EW
Injuries: 3 Fatal.
NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The private pilot and two passengers departed in the multiengine airplane from a controlled airport under night, marginal visual flight rules conditions for a personal flight. Radar data showed the airplane climb to about 2,200 ft mean sea level (msl). At this altitude and when the airplane was about 3 nautical miles (nm) from the airport, it began a descending left turn, followed by a right turn, losing about 700 ft of altitude during this time. The airplane then began a climbing left turn. The left turn continued while its radius decreased until the end of the recorded data. During the final left turn, the airplane initially climbed about 400 ft, descended about 400 ft, and then climbed again about 1,300 ft before reaching its peak altitude of 2,800 ft msl. The final recorded radar point was 0.1 nm from the accident site, and the calculated descent rate between the final two radar points was more than 5,000 ft per minute. Postaccident examinations of the airframe, engines, and propellers, revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane’s avionics and instruments could not be functionally tested due to the extent of the impact damage.
The recorded weather conditions at the destination airport, located about 6 miles from the accident site, at the time of the accident included a broken ceiling at 1,000 ft above ground level (agl), an overcast ceiling at 1,700 ft agl, and visibility of 6 miles with mist. The radar data indicated that the airplane penetrated the cloud layers during the accident flight. The pilot held the appropriate certificates and ratings for operation of the multiengine airplane in instrument conditions, but no clearance had been issued for operation in instrument meteorological conditions. The weather and light conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to the development of spatial disorientation. Further, the flightpath, which was not consistent with the intended course; the airplane’s repeated climbs and descents; and the loss of airplane control and high-speed impact were consistent with the known effects of spatial disorientation. Based on this evidence, it is likely that the pilot experienced spatial disorientation after the airplane entered the clouds at night, which led to his failure to maintain airplane control.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's loss of airplane control due to spatial disorientation while operating in night, instrument meteorological conditions.
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On October 12, 2014, about 2240 central daylight time, a Beechcraft model 58 airplane, N31EW, was destroyed when it impacted trees and terrain in Palos Hills, Illinois. The private rated pilot and two passengers sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was registered to ARC Aviation LLC and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Marginal night visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was not on a flight plan. The flight originated about 2235 from the Midway International Airport (MDW), Chicago, Illinois, and was en route to the Lawrence Municipal Airport, Lawrence, Kansas.
Radar track data showed that the airplane departed runway 22L at MDW and began climbing on runway heading (220 degrees). At 2238:01, the airplane had accelerated to a computed groundspeed of about 130 knots and climbed to an altitude of about 2,200 ft above mean sea level (msl). After reaching this altitude, when the airplane was about 3 nautical miles (nm) from MDW, the airplane then began accelerating and descending as it turned about 20 degrees to the left to a heading of 200 degrees, which was followed immediately by a turn to the right. By 2238:38, when the airplane was about 4.8 nm from MDW, the airplane had descended about 700 ft to an altitude of 1,500 ft msl. The airplane then began climbing. As the climb was initiated, a left turn was also initiated. The left turn continued while the radius of the turn decreased until the end of the radar data. During the final left turn, the airplane initially climbed about 400 ft, descended about 400 ft, and then climbed again about 1,300 ft before reaching a peak altitude of 2,800 ft msl at 2239:24. At this time the airplane was about 5.9 nm from MDW and about 0.1 nm from the accident site. The final radar data point was at 2239:29 at a recorded altitude of 2,400 ft. The final radar data point was located within 0.1 miles of the accident site, and about 6 nm southwest of MDW. The calculated rate of descent between the final two radar points exceeded 5,000 ft per minute.
PERSONNEL INFORMATION
The pilot, age 33, held a private pilot certificate with single-engine land, multiengine land, and instrument airplane ratings. He also held a third class airman medical certificate that was issued on January 31, 2012. The medical certificate listed no limitations.
Pilot logbook information recovered during the investigation revealed that the pilot received his multiengine rating on February 2, 2014. The records indicated that the pilot had accumulated 417.6 hours of total flight experience, including 114.4 hours of multiengine experience. Review of the records indicated that the multiengine experience included 11.5 hours of training, 7.9 hours of simulated instrument experience, 21.1 hours of actual instrument experience, and 25 hours of night flight experience.
AIRCRAFT INFORMATION
The accident airplane was a Beechcraft model 58 airplane, serial number TH-1939. It was a six-seat twin-engine monoplane with a retractable tricycle landing gear configuration. The airplane was powered by two 300 horsepower Continental IO-550-C six cylinder, reciprocating engines.
According to maintenance records, the most recent annual inspection was performed on May 12, 2014 and both engines had been overhauled during the annual inspection. At the time of the annual inspection the airframe had accumulated 1778.2 hours total time in service. The most recent maintenance action was performed on October 8, 2014, and the airplane had accumulated 1869.1 hours total time in service as of that date.
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION
Weather conditions recorded by the MDW Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS), located about 6 miles northeast of the accident site, at 2153, were: wind from 160 degrees at 9 knots gusting to 17 knots, visibility 10 miles, overcast clouds at 1,700 ft above ground level (agl), temperature 16 degrees Celsius, dew point 12 degrees Celsius, and altimeter 29.89 inches of mercury.
At 2238, the MDW weather was: wind from 170 degrees at 9 knots, visibility 6 miles with mist, broken clouds at 1,000 ft agl, overcast clouds at 1,700 ft agl, temperature 15 degrees Celsius, dew point 13 degrees Celsius, and altimeter 29.89 inches of mercury.
The Aeronautical Information Manual defines marginal VFR weather conditions as ceilings from 1,000 to 3,000 ft agl and/or visibility 3 to 5 miles inclusive.
COMMUNICATIONS
At 2228, the pilot contacted MDW controllers to obtain an instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance. The controller was not able to access the flight plan information and requested that the pilot provide him the information by radio transmission. The pilot queried the controller asking if it would be easier to take off under visual flight rules (VFR). The controller informed the pilot that if departing under VFR, he would only need the aircraft type information and the desired direction of flight. The pilot elected to provide the information and received a VFR clearance to depart MDW. Controllers then issued taxi instructions to the pilot.
At 2234:35, the pilot contacted the MDW control tower and stated that he was holding short of runway 22L and requested a VFR departure. At 2234:44, the tower controller issued the current wind condition and cleared the airplane for takeoff. Over the next 4 minutes there were several routine communications between the accident pilot and the MDW tower controller. During these communications, the pilot did not inform the controller of any airplane difficulties. At 2240:21, the tower controller attempted to call the accident airplane due to a loss of radar contact but there was no response. Several more attempts were made but no further communications were received from the accident airplane.
During communications between the pilot and controllers, no clearance for flight in instrument conditions was authorized.
AIRPORT INFORMATION
The Midway International Airport, located in Chicago, Illinois, had five runways and an operating control tower. Three of the runways, 31L/13R, 31C/13C, 31R/13L, were oriented in a northwest/southeast direction. The remaining two runways, 4L/22R, 4R/22L, were oriented in a northeast/southwest direction. The accident airplane used runway 22L which was a 6,445 ft long hard surfaced runway.
The airport had multiple radio frequencies in use at the time of the accident. During the final portion of the flight, the MDW tower was in communication with the accident airplane. The airport elevation was 620 ft msl.
WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION
The airplane impacted trees and terrain in a residential area 6 nm southwest of MDW. Several tree branches exhibited clean cuts consistent with propeller impact and engine power production. Some of the cut branches were about 4 inches in diameter. The initial impact point was about 20 ft north of a house on the neighboring lot. The house and a sport utility vehicle parked in the driveway sustained damage from flying debris. The entire airplane was crushed and fragmented. All of the major airframe pieces were contained within the wreckage distribution path that extended to the southeast, across the street and into the front yards of the houses on the opposite side of the street. Most of the wreckage was located at the initial impact point with smaller pieces of debris scattered along the wreckage path. The proximity of the initial impact point with the surrounding trees was consistent with a near vertical impact. The entire fuselage was crushed and almost unrecognizable. The right engine propeller was about 1 ft below ground level and the engine crankshaft had fractured at the propeller hub. The engine was lying on the ground. The left engine was buried in the ground and the propeller was about 2 to 2-1/2 ft below ground level. The propeller was still attached to the engine. A cage for an air operated gyroscopic instrument was found among the wreckage debris. The circular bore of the cage contained rotational scoring that was consistent with operation at the time of impact. The wreckage was recovered and relocated to a storage facility for further examination.
A partial layout of the main airframe pieces was accomplished. All of the major airframe parts and flight controls were confirmed to be present during the layout. The main landing gear was retracted in the wheel wells. The vertical stabilizer remained attached to the aft fuselage. The rudder had separated with the mid and upper hinges and the rudder trim tab remained attached to the rudder. The rudder balance weight had separated. The right horizontal stabilizer remained attached to aft fuselage with the right elevator still attached. The right elevator trim tab remained attached and the right elevator balance weight remained partially attached. The right elevator torque arm remained attached with the control rod still attached. The left horizontal stabilizer remained partially attached to the aft fuselage. The outboard horizontal stabilizer had separated. The left elevator had separated and was torn into two main pieces. The left elevator trim tab remained attached and the left elevator balance weight had separated. The left elevator torque arm remained attached with the aft portion of the control rod still attached. The right wing had fragmented in multiple locations and the right flap had separated into two main pieces which remained attached. The right aileron had fragmented and a portion remained attached to the wing. The right wing tip had separated and was impact damaged with the fuel cap still attached. The left wing was impact damaged with the left outer wing and tip separated at mid aileron. The left inboard aileron remained attached with the aileron trim tab still attached. The cockpit exhibited substantial crushing damage.
The airplane's flight control cable system was examined and control cable continuity was verified from all control surfaces to the cabin area of the airplane. Due to the amount of damage to the cockpit, verification of yoke and rudder pedal continuity was not possible. All of the identified breaks in the airplane control system were consistent with impact damage or recovery efforts.
The left engine was impact damaged with one magneto separated. The propeller hub remained attached and all three propeller blades had separated near the blade roots. One blade tip had separated. The right engine was impact damaged and the right propeller had separated with the propeller flange. One propeller blade separated and was not observed. The on-scene engine examination consisted of removal of cowling and airframe components to enable shipping for further examination at the manufacturer's facility, and a borescope examination of the cylinders. The borescope examination did not reveal any anomalies.
Functional testing of the airplane's flight instruments, avionics, and autopilot system was not possible due to the extent of the damage incurred during the impact.
During a subsequent examination, the left propeller was disassembled and no evidence of preimpact malfunction or failure was detected. It was not possible to determine the impact blade angle from impact witness marks. The right propeller was not disassembled. The propeller assembly contained a large high compression spring and the mechanism for safe removal of the spring was damaged, preventing safe disassembly. No external evidence of preimpact malfunction or failure was detected.
A teardown examination of both engines was conducted at the manufacturer's facility under the direct supervision of the National Transportation Safety Board Investigator-In-Charge.
The right engine was heavily damaged from impact forces. The engine crankcase was fractured and the propeller flange was separated from the front of the crankshaft. The internal examination of the engine revealed no abnormal operational signatures. The magnetos, fuel system components, vacuum pump, oil cooler, oil pump were examined and exhibited impact damage. No abnormal operating signatures were noted. No preimpact anomalies were detected that would have prevented normal engine operation.
The left engine exhibited impact damage concentrated on the front lower half of the crankcase. The crankcase was fractured in the nose section. The crankshaft flange was impact damaged and remained attached to the crankshaft. The forward cylinders, Nos. 5 and 6, were impact damaged. The remaining cylinders exhibited varying degrees of impact damage and exhibited normal operating signatures. The internal examination of the engine revealed no abnormal operational signatures. The magnetos, fuel system components, vacuum pump, oil cooler, oil pump were examined and exhibited impact damage. No abnormal operating signatures were noted. No preimpact anomalies were detected that would have prevented normal engine operation.
Postaccident examinations of the airframe, control system, engines, and propellers did not reveal any anomalies consistent with a preimpact failure or malfunction.
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
An autopsy of the pilot was performed by the Cook County Coroner's Office, Chicago, Illinois, on October 14, 2014. The pilot's death was attributed to injuries received in the accident.
Toxicology testing was performed by the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. Testing results indicated 17 (mg/dL, mg/hg) Ethanol detected in Kidney. All remaining tests were negative for substances in the screening profile.
TESTS AND RESEARCH
Fueling records indicated that the accident airplane had been serviced with 20 gallons of 100LL aviation gasoline. A sample of fuel from the truck used to service the airplane was obtained and laboratory testing was performed. The results of the testing confirmed that the water content, particulate content and existent gum content were within acceptable limits for 100LL fuel. The boiling range of the fuel indicated that the sample was moderately weathered but not sufficiently to suggest significant contamination.
The airplane was equipped with a Honeywell Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) that was capable of recording several flight parameters. The unit was recovered from the wreckage and sent to the NTSB Recorders Laboratory for evaluation. Upon evaluation of the unit it was discovered that the electronic chip that was used to store recorded data had received impact damage and no data could be retrieved.
NTSB Identification: CEN15FA009
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, October 12, 2014 in Palos Hills, IL
Aircraft: RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT COMPANY 58, registration: N31EW
Injuries: 3 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On October 12, 2014, about 2240 central daylight time, a Beechcraft model 58 airplane, N31EW, piloted by a private pilot, was destroyed when it impacted trees and terrain in Palos Hills, Illinois. The pilot and two passengers sustained fatal injuries. The aircraft was registered to ARC Aviation LLC and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Marginal visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was not on a flight plan. The flight originated about 2235 from the Midway International Airport (MDW), Chicago, Illinois, and was en route to the Lawrence Municipal Airport, Lawrence, Kansas.
Preliminary radar track information showed that the airplane departed runway 22L at MDW and began climbing on runway heading (220 degrees). When the airplane had reached an altitude of about 2,200 feet above mean sea level (msl), it turned about 30 degrees to the left to a heading of about 190 degrees and began descending. During the descent, the airplane then turned to the right to a heading of about 260 degrees. During the right turn the airplane descended to about 1500 feet msl and then started to climb. During this period, the airplane entered a left turn which continued for about 360 degrees before radar contact was lost. The final recorded altitude was about 2,000 feet msl.
At 2238, the weather conditions at MDW were: wind 170 degrees at 9 knots; 6 statute miles visibility; mist; a broken ceiling at 1,000 feet above ground level (agl); an overcast ceiling at 1,400 feet agl; temperature 15 degrees Celsius; dew point 13 degrees Celsius; altimeter setting 29.89 inches of mercury. The field elevation at MDW was 620 feet msl.
The accident location was in a residential area about 6 nautical miles southwest of MDW. The initial impact point was within a group of trees. Broken limbs and the condition of the wreckage was consistent with a near vertical attitude at impact. The majority of the wreckage remained at the initial impact point while smaller pieces of wreckage were spread in a fan shaped pattern to the southeast. All major airframe components were located and identified within the wreckage debris path. The entire airplane exhibited severe crushing and fragmentation of all components. The wreckage was removed from the accident site for further examination.
CHICAGO, N.Y. -- Two of the three doctors killed in a plane crash late Sunday in a Chicago suburb had studied at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.
Dr. Ali A. Kanchwala, a pulmonologist, and his wife, Dr. Maria
Javaid, an interventional cardiologist, were aboard a Beechraft 58 Baron when it crashed in a field in a dense residential area
in Palos Hills. The pilot, Dr. Tausif Rehman, a neurosurgeon at
Stormont-Vail HealthCare in Topeka, Kan., also was killed in the plane
crash.
Kanchwala, a 36-year-old pulmonologist and medical intensivist at Stormont-Vail HealthCare in Topeka, completed his residency in internal medicine in 2007 at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
Javaid, a 37-year-old interventional cardiologist at Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, completed her internal medicine residency in 2004 and a cardiology fellowship in 2007 at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, according to U.S. News & World Report Health website.
The couple met in medical school at DOW University of Health Sciences in Pakistan, and studied at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Maria Javaid's brother, Bilal Javaid, told the Chicago Tribune. The couple married in 2011.
The newspaper reported the couple was aboard the plane with Rehman, a 34-year-old neurosurgeon, who had flown to Chicago to visit a friend. They had just taken off from Chicago's Midway's International Airport at about 10:40 p.m. Sunday when "the plane simply dropped off the radar," John Brannen, senior air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, told the Tribune.
The plane was near vertical when it crashed in a small field, the newspaper reported. No homes were damaged, but Palos Hills Police Chief Paul Madigan told news reporters that a family who lived nearby was evacuated as a safety precaution and there was minor damage to a vehicle parked in the driveway.
NTSB officials told the Associated Press there were no obvious reasons why the Beechcraft 58 Baron plane crashed. The Tribune also reported there was no distress call was sent from the plane.
Rehman had a private license and was trained on single and multi-engine planes, the NTSB told The Tribune.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was heading to Lawrence, Kan., the AP reported.
========
Kanchwala, a 36-year-old pulmonologist and medical intensivist at Stormont-Vail HealthCare in Topeka, completed his residency in internal medicine in 2007 at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
Javaid, a 37-year-old interventional cardiologist at Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, completed her internal medicine residency in 2004 and a cardiology fellowship in 2007 at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, according to U.S. News & World Report Health website.
The couple met in medical school at DOW University of Health Sciences in Pakistan, and studied at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Maria Javaid's brother, Bilal Javaid, told the Chicago Tribune. The couple married in 2011.
The newspaper reported the couple was aboard the plane with Rehman, a 34-year-old neurosurgeon, who had flown to Chicago to visit a friend. They had just taken off from Chicago's Midway's International Airport at about 10:40 p.m. Sunday when "the plane simply dropped off the radar," John Brannen, senior air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, told the Tribune.
The plane was near vertical when it crashed in a small field, the newspaper reported. No homes were damaged, but Palos Hills Police Chief Paul Madigan told news reporters that a family who lived nearby was evacuated as a safety precaution and there was minor damage to a vehicle parked in the driveway.
NTSB officials told the Associated Press there were no obvious reasons why the Beechcraft 58 Baron plane crashed. The Tribune also reported there was no distress call was sent from the plane.
Rehman had a private license and was trained on single and multi-engine planes, the NTSB told The Tribune.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was heading to Lawrence, Kan., the AP reported.
========
The Hospital says Tausif Rehman, MD a Cotton-O’Neil neurosurgeon and Ali A. Kanchwala, MD also a Cotton-O’Neil pulmonologist were killed in the crash, along with Dr. Kanchwala’s wife Maria Javaid, MD. Javaid was an interventional cardiologist at Providence medical Center in Kansas city.
“Dr. Rehman and Dr. Kanchwala were extremely valued, highly skilled and beloved members of our staff,” said Randy Peterson, president and CEO of Stormont-Vail HealthCare. “These physicians were deeply committed to their patients and to bringing the best of care to our community.”
The plane was on its way to Lawrence, Kansas on Sunday night when it crashed in the Chicago suburb of Palos Hills around 10:40 p.m. According to the FAA registry the plane’s owner is Arc Aviation LLC of Lawrence. The registered owner of that business is listed as Tausif Rehman of Lawrence, according to information on file with the Kansas Secretary of State’s office.
Nancy Burkhardt, a spokeswoman for Stormont-Vail, says Rehman joined Stormont-Vail in February 2013 specializing in neurosurgery at the University of New Mexico before joining the staff and after getting his medical degree from Aga Khan University in Pakistan in 2002.
Kanshwala joined the Stormont-Vail healthcare staff in August, 2010. He received his medical degree from DOW Universityof Health Sciences in Karachi, Pakistan and completed a fellowship in 2010 at East Carolina University.
No distress call was sent from a small plane before it crashed in a field near homes in Palos Hill, killing all three people on board, according the National Transportation Safety Board.
"The plane simply dropped off the radar," said John Brannen, senior air safety investigator for the NTSB.
The Beechcraft 58 Baron took off from Midway Airport headed to Lawrence, Kan., when it crashed around 10:40 p.m. Sunday in a small field in the 10100 block of South 86th Court, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The names of the dead have not been released, but a friend said all three were physicians who had flown up to Chicago for the day. The plane was registered to a company in Lawrence, according to FAA records.
The plane went down near a residential area but did not damage any homes, according to Palos Hills Deputy police Chief James Boie. "It’s very fortunate it didn’t hit any houses and no wires,” Boie said, adding there was also no fire.
Brannen said the plane had fueled up at Midway and investigators planned to check the truck and take samples of the fuel. He said the investigation was still preliminary and nothing was being ruled out, including the overcast skies and the pilot's experience.
The pilot had a private license and was trained on single and multi-engine planes, Brannen said.
Palos Hills resident Michael D’Alessio, who lives with his family a few blocks away from the crash site, said he woke up after hearing the sound of the plane going down and called 911 immediately.
“It was very loud,” D’Alessio said. “I heard a loud pop. ... Planes fly over our area all the time. But this was different.”
When D’Alessio went outside, he said there was an airplane seat on the ground near the crash scene.
His daughter, Amanda D’Alessio, 16, said she was putting away her math homework, getting ready for school in the morning.
“All of the sudden you hear a big crash and feel the house shake,” Amanda said, adding that she first thought it was a car accident. “All of the sudden all the neighbors are out."
Billy Williams, 64, said he was coming home from work a little after 10:30 p.m. when he heard what at first sounded like a plane circling too close to the ground.
"I thought it was someone playing, flying low," he said Monday morning.
Dan Jurevis, 35, who lives around the corner from where the plane crashed, said he was at home in bed when he heard sounds of a plane in distress, "like the pilot was trying to give it more power," he said.
Jurevis and Williams said they immediately ran out to see if they could help, arriving around the same time as police.
"An officer shined a light in the cabin and said, 'You're not going to want to see this,' " Jurevis said.
He said he could smell airplane fuel and saw debris from the plane strewn 50 yards from the cabin, which stopped very near a house, he said.
"I had trouble sleeping, I kept hearing that noise over and over," he said.
"It's surreal, if I was in my backyard I could throw a baseball and hit it. I feel terrible for the people in the plane, but also lucky no one was hurt down here," Jurevis said.
Another neighbor said the plane was flying close to houses before it hit an empty lot.
"I heard an airplane right above our home," Agni Drossos told reporters. "It got pretty loud. It sounded like it was going to crash behind our yard. It sounded like metal landed behind us."
A physician at a Topeka hospital is feared dead after a small, private plane crashed Sunday night in a Chicago suburb.
All three people aboard the aircraft were reported killed in the crash, which occurred shortly after the plane took off from Chicago Midway International Airport. The three were all identified as being Kansas residents.
Nancy Burkhardt, spokeswoman for Stormont-Vail HealthCare in Topeka, said the hospital had received reports that the plane was owned by neurosurgeon Tausif-Ur Rehman. Burkhardt said Rehman joined the Stormont-Vail staff in 2013.
“We’ve not been able to reach him today,” Burkhardt said Monday afternoon. “Based on the information we have, we fear the worst.”
Rehman was known to own a plane and was a pilot, Burkhardt said. The numbers on the plane Rehman owned and that of the plane that crashed matched.
According to U.S. News Health, Rehman received his medical degree in 2002 from Aga Khan University Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan, and has been in practice for 12 years.
Prior to coming to Topeka, he did a residency in neurosurgery from 2006 to 2011 at the University of New Mexico; a residency in general surgery from 2005 to 2006 at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell Campus; and a transitional year internship from 2004 to 2005 at Brown University.
Burkhardt said additional information might be released later Monday, after positive identification of the victims had been made.
Authorities said the twin-engine Beechcraft Baron aircraft, which was headed to Lawrence, crashed around 10:40 p.m. Sunday in the 10100 block of S. 86th Court in Palos Hills, a suburb on the southwest side of Chicago. The plane went down in the only vacant lot in a neighborhood of single-family homes.
The location of where the plane crashed was about 12 miles south and west of Midway airport.
Those on the scene said the pilot may have desperately looked for a spot to crash where it would not injure anyone on the ground.
Palos Hills Deputy Police Chief James Boie said that given the spot where the plane crashed and statements by neighbors who told authorities it appeared the plane was circling before it crashed makes it a real possibility that the pilot tried to save the lives of people in all the homes in the neighborhood.
“I’d like to think that,” he said. “That is the only vacant lot for (four) blocks.”
One resident across the street from the vacant lot said that when she saw the crash site she was convinced that the pilot was trying to save lives. “It looks like he aimed for the one vacant spot,” said Barbara Janusz, who lives with her daughter’s family in a house where she said the plane’s wings came to rest. “I’m sure he sacrificed his own life for everybody else’s, bless his soul.”
Janusz said about 50 to 60 people live on the block and a couple hundred more in apartments a block away. “It would have been a total disaster, too awful to think about.”
Boie said that the plane hit some trees, adding that the wreckage was in a rather compact area.
“Some of the residents said they heard an airplane. It sounded like it was kind of sputtering and then it came down right away,” Boie said. “It did come close to one of the houses.”
He said he had no immediate identification of the victims, adding a medical examiner was at the site Monday morning. About two blocks all around had been cordoned off by authorities. But he said there was no fire at the time of the crash and no evacuation ordered, though some people were kept away from their homes after the crash.
Lunsford said in an earlier email that the FAA had sent a team to investigate and the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified.
Boie said planes from Midway often fly overhead, but he recalled no incident in recent memory of a small plane crash in the community about 20 miles southwest of downtown Chicago.
- Source: http://cjonline.com
(PALOS HILLS) Three people were killed when a plane destined for Lawrence, Kansas, crashed in southwest suburban Palos Hills Sunday night, officials said.
The plane, a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron, had three people aboard when it crashed about 10:40 p.m. in the 10100 block of South 86th Court shortly after it departed from Midway Airport, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford.
Police found no survivors, Palos Hills Deputy Chief James Boie said. A spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed its investigators were dispatched to that location but did not have details on the identities of the crash victims.
The plane is registered to Arc Aviation, LLC, which is based in Lawrence, according to the FAA’s website.
The plane crashed in a small field in a heavy residential area but did not hit any homes, Boie said. No one on the ground was hurt.
FAA and National Transportation Safety Board investigators were scheduled to start a full crash site examination Monday morning, officials said.
Agni Drossos told reporters at the scene that she was in her kitchen when she heard the plane fly over her home.
The plane “sounded like it was dying,” Drossos said. “I thought it was going to land in my backyard, but it [crashed] a block behind my house.
“It just came to a dead halt,” she added. “No flames, no nothing.”
Mike Bronzell, a locksmith from Hickory Hills, said around 10:30 p.m. he was outside Prime Time Restaurant, about two miles northeast of the crash site, when a low-flying plane roared 200-feet above him.
“The engine was just booming so loud you couldn’t hear a thing,” Bronzell said. The plane was heading southwest, he said.
Three people died when a plane crashed in a residential street in a Chicago suburb, authorities said. Deputy Chief James Boie said the twin-engine Beechcraft Baron narrowly missed homes when it came down in Palos Hills, Illinois, at 10:40 p.m. local time Sunday (11:40 p.m. ET). It had just departed from Chicago Midway International Airport and was flying to Lawrence, Kansas, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA said early
Monday all three people on board were confirmed dead. Dimitri Drossos
was among those who took to social media after hearing the crash. "It
got real tonight," he wrote.
"A small airplane flew incredibly low over my parents' house. Sounded
as if it was running out of/ran out of fuel and ultimately crashes one
block from their house. Thoughts and prayers to the families of the
people inside the plane." College student Russ Ventimiglia, 20, who
lives less than a mile from the crash site told NBC News it "sounded
exactly like a plane going down in a cartoon." He added: "I didn't hear
the impact so I thought it was nothing until I heard the news.”
Three people are believed dead after a small plane crashed into a suburban Chicago neighborhood Sunday, police told ABC News.
The crash happened at 10:40 local time in a residential area in Palos Hills, Ill., said James Boie, deputy chief of the Palos Hills Police Department.
The plane, a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron, came down in a field next to a home and did not crash into any homes, authorities said.
The plane took off from Chicago Midway International Airport and was headed for Lawrence, Kansas, officials with the FAA’s Great Lakes region said in a statement.
FAA investigators are headed to the crash site, and National Transportation Safety Board officials were notified, authorities said.
Palos Hills is located southwest of Chicago.
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