Friends are remembering the pilot and Illinois Civil Air Patrol volunteer who died in Wednesday evening’s plane crash near Deerfield as a mechanically oriented man who would always lend a helping hand to anyone.
Chester Wojnicki, 75, of Mount Prospect, died after his plane crashed into a townhouse and yard in the 800 block of Swallow Street in unincorporated Deerfield around 9:40 p.m. on Wednesday.
Wojnicki was the president of American Polish Aero Club Chicago, which consisted of Polish pilots and aviation enthusiasts in the Chicago-area.
State records show the organization as incorporated in March 1993 and dissolved in August 2014.
He has also served as a volunteer with the Illinois Wing Civil Air Patrol.
Jay Trivedi has known Wojnicki for 15 years.
They both serve on the Civil Air Patrol and have been seeing each other every Tuesday night at the squadron’s meetings at Chicago Executive Airport.
Trivedi said he heard news of the plane crash from a mutual friend on Thursday morning.
“It was tough. I just saw him Tuesday night,” Trivedi told Lake & McHenry County Scanner.
Wojnicki would always help Trivedi with maintenance and operational tasks when he bought his first airplane in 2019.
He said Wojnicki was very “mechanically and electrically oriented” and wouldn’t hesitate to lend a helping hand to anyone.
Trivedi called Wojnicki a “very experienced pilot,” adding that he has flown with him several times.
Wojnicki frequently spent time at Chicago Executive and would fly in and out multiple times a week.
Wojnicki had a “gregarious laugh” that is hard to miss, Trivedi said.
Trivedi added Wojnicki was “generous, helpful, and full of joy.”
“Fair Winds and Blue Skies my friend Chester Wojnicki!” Trivedi said.
Another friend was emotional at the news and told Lake & McHenry County Scanner that Wojnicki was a “very lovely” man.
He also said that Wojnicki was a very experienced pilot and was skilled at troubleshooting issues with planes.
He estimated that Wojnicki had at least 7,000 flight hours.
The crash Wednesday evening summoned dozens of first responders to the Park West subdivision in the 800 block of Swallow Street at around 9:45 p.m.
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.
Dozens of sheriff’s deputies, investigators and firefighters filled the subdivision where the crash occurred.
“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.
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.