Pilot Killed Over The Weekend Had Survived 2 Plane Crashes
BIG ROCK, Ill. (CBS) -- The pilot who died in a plane crash in Kane County over the weekend had survived two crashes in the past 11 years.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Steve Miller reports, the flight that killed John Morrison, 73, of Aurora, was the first flight for the experimental plane involved, which Morrison reportedly had built himself.
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Kane County officials say the plane crashed into a cornfield, as Morrison was on his way back to the Aurora Municipal Airport after having trouble after takeoff.
Just over three years ago, Morrison survived a crash after taking off from the Aurora airport, and in September 2000, he walked away when his plane crashed in a Kane County cornfield.
He told a reporter then that his engine failed, and he tried four times to restart it.
"You just concentrate," he was quoted at the time.
On Sunday, Morrison was making a test-flight of a single-engine, fixed-wing E-Racer, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro.
The plane went down at 7:48 a.m. Sunday in the cornfield near Granart Road and Camp Dean Road in unincorporated Big Rock.
The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating.
