Illinois Plane Crash Kills Four

WHEELING, Ill. – A twin-engine airplane crashed Monday near the Palwaukee Municipal Airport, killing all four people aboard, authorities said.

The plane appeared headed for an arrival when it went down about 6:30 p.m., Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said.

The aircraft went down in an industrial park near a residential area roughly a mile from the airport.

The plane, a 1974 Cessna 421B, had departed from Olathe, Kansas, the FAA said.

The Cook County medical examiner's office confirmed four people were killed in the crash but could not immediately provide any details.

The plane smashed into a stack of steel and plywood construction material used to build foundations for homes, said Michael Pirron, owner of DeGraf Concrete Construction Inc., the property where the plane crashed.

There were no visible skid marks indicating the plane touched down before it hit, he said.

"It's pretty unrecognizable that it's a plane," Pirron said.

Pirron said his security cameras captured three images of the plane as it crashed. Those images were turned over to investigators, who were still pouring over the wreckage late Monday.

Wheeling is about 24 miles northwest of Chicago.