What caused the deadly plane crash in Joliet, Illinois?
NTSB: Plane landed for fuel, crashed on takeoff January 2, 2009 4:38 PM | 39 Comments The two people who died in the crash of a small plane in Joliet Thursday evening apparently had just taken off from a nearby airport where they had stopped to refuel, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator said at an afternoon news conference today. NTSB investigators work through the debris at the site of Thursday night’s plane crash at the Joliet Regional Airport. (John Smierciak/Chicago Tribune) But no one was working at the Joliet Park District Airport due to the holiday, and it was unclear if they found any fuel. “We don’t know,” said Pam Sullivan, a senior NTSB investigator. The two people on the plane have tentatively been identified as Stuart D. Seffern, 50, and his longtime partner, Deborah A. Loiselle, 52. Identifications were based on aircraft registration and personal effects, and those positive identifications are pending forensic studies, Will County officials said. At the n
JOLIET — Two passengers died late Thursday when an airplane crashed at Joliet Regional Airport, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said. “We understand that an aircraft fatality did occur at Joliet, with two fatalities and an aircraft that burned,” FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said. Joliet Park District executive director Dominic Egizio says the crash occurred about 9 p.m. under a clear sky. The district operates the airport. The plane likely had two to four seats, he said. Joliet police told The Herald-News newspaper of Joliet that the plane burst into flames as it was landing and that a man and woman, likely a couple, were killed. The Chicago Tribune reported that the plane departed Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Cory said her agency would participate in an investigation led by the National Transportation Safety Board. She said investigations typically take weeks. Sources:
