'Serious' plane crash in South Bend sends one to hospital

April 04, 2011|By DAVE STEPHENS | South Bend Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND — Mere moments before the small four-seat plane touched down on the runway today, a powerful gust of wind blew across the airport.

What happened next took less time than it takes to read this sentence.

The plane’s wing lifted, air traffic observers later said, pushing the plane’s nose down into the ground. The plane then cartwheeled back to front, the force ripping the plane’s single engine from the fuselage and shattering its propeller.

The plane then righted itself, landing upright, on its wheels just before noon.

The pilot — still unidentified but believed to be from Illinois — was trapped inside the plane’s crushed front half, reportedly with a fractured leg.

Firefighters had to use the jaws of life to rip open the door and remove the pilot. He was then taken by ambulance to a South Bend hospital, where he was listed in serious, but stable, condition. There were no passengers on board.

John Schalliol, the airport’s director, called the crash the most serious he’s witnessed at the airport in his more than 30-year career.

"It’s a real shame something like that had to happen within a couple of months of my leaving ... I can’t remember one as serious as this," Schalliol said.

Schalliol said the plane — a Cirrus fixed wing Model SR22 — was likely damaged beyond repair.

According to FAA records, the plane is registered as belonging to CanoeCouple Inc. of Skokie, Ill. The Illinois secretary of state’s website listed the corporation president as Michael Collins, and listed the corporation’s headquarters as a residential home in Skokie.

Flight records show the four-seat plane left Chicago Executive Airport, formerly called Palwaukee Airport, in Wheeling, Ill., at 10:06 a.m. Central time and reported landing 41 minutes later in South Bend. The day before, the plane flew into Chicago from Georgetown, Texas, with a short stop in Missouri.

In the previous four months, according to an online log of flights, the plane had flown as far as south Florida, but most flights originated out of the Chicago area.

Elizabeth Cory, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Association, said her agency will not release the name of the pilot. She said the investigation into the crash will likely take several weeks.

Schalliol said the crash didn’t interrupt air service at the airport, even as the wreckage of the plane remained on the runway for much of the afternoon. Commercial and other flights were able to use the airport’s east-west runway without interruption.

Staff writer Dave Stephens:
dstephens@sbtinfo.com
574-235-6209

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