Pilot Killed When Small Plane Crashes In SE Wis.
KANSASVILLE, Wis. (AP) -- A pilot was killed Sunday when a small plane crashed into a yard along Eagle Lake in Kansasville in southeastern Wisconsin, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.
The single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza was flying from Chicago Executive Airport to Minocqua in north-central Wisconsin when it crashed and hit a building, FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said. The pilot, who was the only person onboard, was killed and the plane was destroyed, he said, but no injuries on the ground were reported.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, and the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
"Fire units quickly extinguished the flames, which destroyed the plane, a garage, two cars, damaged two homes and other outbuildings," Kansasville Fire Chief Chad Franks said. "The incident is now under investigation by the Racine County Sheriff's Office and the FAA."
The pilot's name was not immediately released. The plane's tail number was registered to a Chicago address.
Brian Block was sitting in his living room when he heard the sound of a plane engine, close by and louder than normal.
"Then `kaboom!' The whole house shook," Block told The Times Journal of Racine (http://bit.ly/OkkyjW).
Block jumped in his car and drove a block to the scene where he saw flames coming from a small plane sitting in a neighbor's yard.
Travis Barstad said debris including plane parts was scattered everywhere. Roofing and siding hung off houses and burned car shells were visible, he said.
"I heard people screaming, `It's a plane! It's a plane!"' he said.
(TM and © Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
