Plane crash into home in Chicago, 1 dead

CHICAGO -- A small plane crashed into a home on Chicago's Southwest Side near Midway International Airport Tuesday morning, killing the pilot.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said the Aero Commander 500 cargo plane took off from Midway headed for Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling, but the pilot also amended his flight plan before takeoff to go to Ohio State University airport in Columbus.

Shortly after takeoff, the plane crashed about a quarter-mile from its runway while trying to return to the airport. Aviation officials said the pilot reported engine trouble and had asked to come back to Midway. He was found dead in the wreckage but has not been identified nor pulled from the debris as of 10 a.m.

The twin-engine plane crashed into a two-story bungalow in the 6500-block of South Knox Avenue around 2:45 a.m. The plane crashed through the front of the building, through the living and dining rooms and into the basement, fire officials said. The elderly couple inside survived.

"They were in a bedroom next to the living room, and most of the plane is in the living room," said Deputy Fire Chief Michael Fox, Chicago Fire Department.

The plane came to rest eight inches from the sleeping couple, Fox said.

The aircraft is wedged between two houses, with the nose down into the couple's house and the tail up with the body resting on the roof of the home next door to the south.

The elderly couple was helped from the home by a neighbor. Rick Rolinskas, the couple's son, says his parents both have Alzheimer's, and that they are now staying with a neighbor across the street. Rolinskas says the house appears to be a total loss.

PHOTOS: Small plane crashes into SW Side home after Midway takeoff

The scene is blocked to traffic, but no major roads are closed in the area. The Chicago Water Reclamation District is looking into a possible jet fuel spill because there is concern about fuel in the water system.

The National Transportation Safety Board was called 45 minutes after the crash. The aircraft will be removed Tuesday afternoon, the NTSB says.

Fox said there was no fire ablaze when crews arrived, but they doused the wreckage in foam due to the fuel leak.

The BTSB and fire officials said the house structures are still stable.

Luz Cazares, 62, lives next door and said when she initially heard the crash and then saw the plane in the home, she thought the people inside--who she's known for 22 years--were dead.

Cazares and her husband ran outside and saw the couple waving for help through the window of their house. The man and woman, who are 82 and 84 years old, were standing in the hallway outside their bedroom, which is right by the living room where the plane had crashed, she said.

"I walked to the back of the yard, I jumped the fence. I opened the back door of the kitchen and I took (the woman) outside," Cazares said.

She said police got the man out.

Cazares said she and her husband check up on them from time to time. Cazares' home was one of the residences evacuated. Her husband and son were staying across the street at a neighbor's house, while Cazares decided to stay at her daughter's house in Burbank.

The Associated Press and Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.