Wheeling Plane Crash Narrowly Misses Nearby Apartments; 'We Thought it Might Blow Up'

A twin engine plane crash landed Tuesday evening north of Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling, Illinois, according to CBS Chicago.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration the pilot suffered injuries. However, Wheeling law enforcement said there were no severe injuries. The plane missed nearby apartments.

The Beechcraft Super King Air 200 crashed near Chicago, approximately 30 miles northwest of the city’s downtown area—missing its destination at the executive airport, according to FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro.

The agency’s records state the plane is registered to TennAir LLC of Clakrsville Tennessee. The twin-engine turbo-prop plane was made in 1981.

This is not the first plane crash near Chicago Executive Airport, formerly known as Palwaukee Airport. Previous plane crashes have occurred in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2010. The crash that occurred in the area closest to Tuesday’s incident happened on Oct. 30, 1996. According to published reports, a twin-engine Gulfstream IV business jet was in the midst of its take-off and crashed almost instantly. This crash did not end like the one on Tuesday. All passengers and the lone crew member died and fiery debris hit the nearby parking lot for Foxboro Apartments.

Kayla Gaston and Jakalia Johnson, 11-year old cousins, saw Tuesday’s crash as the plane was falling in a southwest direction over the apartments, according to MyFOXNY.com.

"Normally those planes come over the lake, and come down, but we saw it wasn't going to come down where it was supposed to," said Jakalia. "We ran inside the house and screamed, ‘A plane crashed!' . . . We thought it might blow up."