A small plane crashed Wednesday night near a group of Deerfield-area townhouses, killing the pilot but no one on the ground was injured, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The 9:45 p.m. crash happened in the 800 block of Swallow Street. The pilot, whose identity has not been released yet, was the sole occupant of the plane, police said.
The plane struck the roof area of one of the townhouses and two gas meters. Nicor crews responded and brought a gas leak under control, police said.
“Fortunately, it appears the pilot was able to avoid causing major damage to any of the homes, and nobody on the ground sustained any injuries,” Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said.
The crash site is southwest of the Deerfield Parkway and Milwaukee Avenue intersection in the Park West condo neighborhood, about five miles north of Chicago Executive Airport.
Federal aviation administration officials were summoned and are investigating with local police.
A nearby resident described the plane as a two-seater and speculated that the dense fog on Wednesday may have played a role in the crash.
Ankur Jagetiya said friends alerted him to the loud noise of the crash, and he came over to investigate.
“It did brush the roof, but the pilot did a good job in saving the houses,” Jagetiya said. “It would have been a big disaster if it had fallen on the roof.”
Stacey Wescott of the Chicago Tribune contributed to this report.
