The president of an aviation club has been publicly identified as the pilot who died after he crashed his plane into a townhouse and yard in unincorporated Deerfield Wednesday evening.
An autopsy performed Thursday showed that Chester Wojnicki, 75, of Mount Prospect, died as a result of blunt force injuries, according to Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Lincolnshire Riverwoods Fire Protection District, Wheeling Fire Department, Long Grove Fire Protection District, Buffalo Grove Fire Department, Deerfield Bannockburn Fire Protection District and Prospect Heights Fire Department responded around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday to the 800 block of Swallow Street in unincorporated Deerfield for multiple reports of a plane that crashed.
Several residents in the area called 911 to report the crash, Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said.
The Chicago Executive Airport’s (PWK) air traffic control tower also contacted emergency services when they lost sight and contact with the plane.
Deputies and firefighter/medics arrived in minutes to find a single-engine plane that crashed behind a row of townhouses in the 800 block of Swallow Street.
The plane was occupied by only the pilot, identified as Wojnicki, Covelli said.
Firefighter/paramedics pronounced Wojnicki dead at the scene.
The plane hit the roof area of one of the townhomes and two gas meters, causing structural damage and a small gas leak, Covelli said.
“Fortunately, it appears the pilot was able to avoid causing major damage to any of the homes and nobody on the ground sustained injuries,” Covelli said. All townhouses remain habitable.
“Some preliminary indications are that the pilot was headed to Palwaukee [Chicago Executive Airport] in Wheeling. The tower in that area lost contact with the aircraft just prior to reports coming in of an aircraft crash,” Covelli said late Wednesday evening.
“It is our belief at this point that the pilot was intending initially to land at Palwaukee Airport,” Covelli added.
Although the exact circumstances of the crash are not yet clear, there was low visibility due to fog at the time.
“That is something that investigators will be looking at to see if weather could have played a factor in the crash,” Covelli added.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Technical Crash Investigations Team, which usually investigates motor vehicle crashes, was called to the scene.
“In cases like this, it’s really about documenting the damage, documenting the flight path, ensuring that there’s evidence that’s collected here at the scene in conjunction with federal investigators, really to make sure that no stone is unturned,” Covelli said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were notified.
The plane that crashed was a 1976 Cessna T210M Turbo Centurion and Wojnicki was the owner of the aircraft, according to FAA records.
An FAA spokesperson said the Cessna took off from Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisconsin, and was headed to Chicago Executive Airport.
The FAA said it and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate but the NTSB will lead the investigation.
The crash drew dozens of Lake County sheriff’s deputies, sheriff’s investigators, police officers and firefighters from several agencies to the area.
“The primary actions right away are life safety,” Lincolnshire Riverwoods Fire Protection District Fire Chief Tom Krueger said, adding that firefighters are trained to check for people affected and if the plane crashed into any buildings, especially with the area having multiple townhouses.
“That’s the number one concern. As soon as the crews got out and assessed the damage, they found the plane and determined there was no fire and there was no significant structural damage to the exterior of the buildings,” the fire chief said.
“Once those priorities were taken place, they focused on the pilot, and they determined he was deceased,” Krueger said.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office responded and took possession of Wojnicki for an autopsy.
Wojnicki was the president of the American Polish Aero Club Chicago, which consisted of Polish pilots and aviation enthusiasts. State records show the organization as incorporated in March 1993 and dissolved in August 2014.
Wojnicki made headlines in 2009 after a plane originating from Lake in the Hills crashed in West Virginia, killing six, including four who were members of his club.
Technicians with North Shore Gas also responded to tend to the gas leak, and the Lake County Planning, Building and Development Department came to inspect the damage to the townhomes.
The sheriff’s office remained on the scene overnight while federal investigators responded.
The first investigators arrived in the morning hours of Thursday.
“As this incident involves an aircraft, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office will investigate in conjunction with the FAA and federal officials,” Covelli said.
The incident remains under investigation by the sheriff’s office, FAA, NTSB and the Lake County Coroner’s Office.