CHICAGO, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The pilot of a small cargo plane was trying to return to Midway Airport in Chicago early Tuesday when he crashed into a house, investigators said.
The pilot was killed in the crash shortly before 3 a.m. The couple who lived in the house about a quarter mile from the airport survived without injury.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot reported engine problems immediately after takeoff and told air traffic controllers he was heading back to Midway.
"He did not make it to the field. It looks he just went down just short of 31 Center," an air traffic controller said on a recording obtained by LiveATC.net.
Investigators said the plane, striking the front side of the house, came through the living and dining rooms and broke through to the basement. Part of the wreckage landed on the roof.
Two neighboring houses were evacuated. The Chicago Fire Department said the crash did not set off a fire or explosion in the house it hit, but firefighters were unable to get into the building immediately after the crash because of the structural damage.
The Aero Commander 500 was owned by a Kansas City company. The pilot's original flight plan said his destination was Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling, Ill., but he amended it shortly before takeoff to the Ohio State University airport, the FAA said.
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