A 74-year-old out-of-state man was killed in a plane crash Tuesday afternoon in a Wilton Center field.
The Will County Sheriff's Department released a statement saying the man's identity will not be released until his next-of-kin are notified. Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil said attempts were being made to contact the man's family.
Preliminary reports indicate the man was from out of state and may have been employed by a local oil supply company, according to the sheriff's department.
The plane went down shortly after 2:30 p.m. The field it crashed in is on the southwest corner of Offner and Gougar roads. The plane went down about a mile from the surrounding roads, crashing within a half-mile of two houses to the north and to the south of the crash. The plane crashed about midway between Manhattan's two fire stations.
The dead man was the only person aboard the multi-engine Beech 58, according to Elizabeth Isham Cory of the Federal Aviation Administration.
The six-seat, two-engine plane was registered to Bemidji Aviation Services in Bemidji, MN. A man answering the phone at Bemidji Aviation services Tuesday refused to give his name but said, "We are aware of the crash and we're working with the (National Transportation Safety Board) to obtain more details."
Isham Cory said the FAA is still working to determine where the plane took off from and where it was headed when it crashed.
Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.
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