3 dead in 2 U.S. plane crashes

SAN DIEGO, April 11 (UPI) -- Small airplanes crashed near San Diego and Chicago, killing a total of three people Saturday, authorities said.

Two people were killed when a single-engine, 1946-era plane crashed in a field about 1:50 p.m. in Illinois' DeKalb County, the Chicago Tribune reported.

In the second accident in California, a Piper Comanche crashed in flames in an isolated section of the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station about 11 a.m. Saturday, claiming the life of the pilot, who was alone in the four-seat aircraft, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The Illinois accident occurred just north of a small private air strip southwest of the town of Sandwich, the Tribune said.

The California crash site was about 8 miles northeast of Montgomery Field in San Diego Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said. The plane had taken off from Whiteman Airport in Cacoima, Calif., in Los Angeles County and was headed to San Diego's Brown Field, Gregor said.

The crashes were under investigation.