Cary Pilot Makes Crash Landing In Grayslake

GRAYSLAKE, IL — A suburban pilot made an emergency landing, skidding through a farm field and landing just short of the runway at Campbell Airport in Grayslake on Sunday. The Grayslake Fire Protection district said firefighters responded to a report of a plane crash at the airport at around 5:5o p.m. and arrived to find the pilot outside of the plane, uninjured.

Officials said the pilot, who lives in nearby Cary, was flying a 1979 single-engine Cessna from Pierre, South Dakota to Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling when he began experiencing engine trouble. The pilot decided to make an emergency landing at Campbell Airport, but came up just short of the runway on the west side of the airport, according to the fire department.

Officials said the plane came to rest 100 to 150 feet from the runway after skidding through a farm field and across a bridge.

Firefighters handled a small fuel spill on the ground and turned the scene over to the Lake County Sheriff's Department and the FAA, officials said. Airport personnel were on scene to assist with moving the wreckage of the plane.

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