Plane Goes Down in Sugar Grove; No One Hurt

Two California men are uninjured after their small plane crashed into a cornfield north of the Aurora Airport on Wednesday morning, officials said.

A single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza was attempting to take off at about 9 a.m. and was headed to Oshkosh, WI, from California, according to Sugar Grove Fire Chief Marty Kunkel.

During takeoff, the plane apparently lost power. The pilot attempted to make an emergency landing in a cornfield on the north side of the Airport property and crashed into the cornfield.

The men, one pilot and one co-pilot, were the only two people on board and they were uninjured. According to the Kane County Sheriff's Office, they are:

• Pilot Dan Bagget, 66, of Mt. View, CA

• Co-pilot Rod Kenner, 65, of Walnut Creek, CA

The Aurora Police Department is handling the initial investigation into the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration is handling the follow-up investigation, the Sheriff's Office said.

Emergency Response Details

The initial dispatch report was for a plane that may have crashed at the end of a runway during takeoff, according to a press release.

The following agencies were dispatched to the scene:

• Sugar Grove Fire Department

• Aurora Police Officers

• Kane County Sheriff's Deputies

Tri-Com Dispatch reported a plane crash at Aurora Municipal Airport in Sugar Grove at about 9 a.m. Wednesday, July 25.

Dispatchers sent Elburn and engines to the scene, on the north side of the airport off Wheeler Road. Geneva sent Ambulance 251. The airport's address is 43W636 U.S. Route 30, Veterans Memorial Parkway, Sugar Grove.

Tri-Com told emergency personnel at about 9:30 a.m. that the plane landed and its occupants were uninjured, although it was requested that medical personnel stand by. The dispatcher said there appeared to be no fuel leak and no fire.

Officials were still at the scene late Wednesday morning.

Past Crashes

Other recent plane crashes in Kane County include at least four fatalities in the past three years.

Frank J. Kehoe of Hampshire at Olson Airport in unincorporated Plato Township on Nov. 20, 2011.

, this time at Aurora Airport on Sunday, July 31, 2011, killed 73-year-old pilot John Morrison of Aurora, the Sheriff's Office said.

In January 2010, two men were killed when their small plane crashed near Waubonsee Community College, according to the NBC 5 Chicago website.