Palos Hills plane crash victims identified as Kansas doctors
PALOS HILLS, Ill. (WLS) -- A Kansas hospital system has identified three physicians as victims of a small plane crash in southwest suburban Palos Hills.
Stormont-Vail HealthCare in Topeka said Monday that the victims of Sunday night's plane crash included two of its doctors, neurosurgeon Tausif Rehman and pulmonologist Ali A. Kanchwala.
Stormont-Vail also identified the third victim as Kanchwala's wife, Maria Javaid, a cardiologist at the Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.
"They had taken off from Midway Airport, and within a few minutes they crashed here," Palos Hills Police Chief Paul Madigan said. The plane, a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron registered to ARC Aviation, LLC, was headed to Lawrence, Kansas. ARC Aviation is based in Lawrence.
PHOTOS: Palos Hills plane crash kills 3
"There was no distress call, the airplane simply dropped off radar," a NTSB Senior Air Safety Investigator John Brannen said. Brannen said the recovery crew will be out on Monday to remove the wreckage. "It's very fortunate we don't have any damage on the ground."
The plane went down in the 10100-block of South 86th Court around 10:40 p.m. Sunday without hitting any homes in the busy, residential area. The family that lives across the street was asked to leave their home while the investigation continues.
"There was no fire, no significant damage to the home. We really took the people out of their home just to make sure they were safe," Chief Madigan said.
"I heard the loud deceleration of a prop plane. It was very distinctive, very loud. It instantly woke me. I had just gone to bed. There was a split-second pause and then a large boom," Mike D'Allesio said.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating the cause of the crash.
"Typically, within a week of the accident, we'll issue a preliminary report," Brannen said. Several months later, the factual report is issued, followed by the final debrief.
