NTSB: Aborted Landing Preceded Bolingbrook Plane Crash
BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (STMW) -- An airplane that crashed in Bolingbrook in September touched down several times on a runway in an attempted landing at Clow Airport before taking off and then diving into a nearby parking lot, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The report, issued Thursday, does not indicate what caused the Sept. 25 crash that killed the pilot, Narayan Venguswamy, 63, and his wife, Jay, from Georgetown, Ky., the Herald-News is reporting. It does say that the flight briefly was captured on Clow Airport's surveillance cameras.
Shortly after 5 p.m., the airplane was recorded touching down multiple times about halfway down a runway, according to the preliminary report. It says the plane then veered left after the final takeoff, descended, and flew off-camera.
Witnesses reported seeing the airplane hit a tree and a light pole before it crashed and caught fire in the parking lot at a Chase bank branch, 262 S. Weber Road. Bystanders rushed over to douse the blaze and help the couple, who were engulfed in flames, witnesses said.
Jay Venguswamy was pronounced dead at the scene, while Narayan Venguswamy died the next morning at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.
The airplane's parachute system was found in the wreckage, the parachute still packed, according to the NTSB report. It says Venguswamy flew without a flight plan, but was headed to Bolingbrook.
Joseph DePaulo, Clow Airport's manager, said in September that Venguswamy was coming in for a landing from the north and attempted to take another approach.
"He decided to come back around because he didn't like the way he was coming in," DePaulo said. "If the pilot doesn't like one little thing or something doesn't seem right, they will perform a go-around."
A spokesman for the NTSB said it could take up to 18 months to complete its final report on the crash investigation.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
