No Evidence of Fuel Found at Chicago Crash Site

The last flight of William Didier’s life crashed just three miles from the close of its 1,160-mile journey on Monday night, spent of fuel and attempting to coast to a safe landing, according to information gleaned from numerous public reports.

Didier, 58, was a Port Washington native piloting a medical transport plane from West Palm Beach, FL, to Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling, IL. Three of the five people on board perished.

The plane had stopped in Jessup, GA, to refuel and was approaching Chicago, flying at 10,000 feet according to multiple published reports.

Weather was not remarkable from a flight standpoint. The manager of Chicago Executive Airport told the Daily Herald that “it wasn’t windy at all.” Only a trace of precipitation was recorded on Nov. 28, according to the National Weather Service, and temperatures did not drop to the freezing mark of 32 degrees. The vice president of a flight-tracking company told the Daily Herald that the plane’s flight path was “totally normal.”

Trouble began just a few minutes before the scheduled landing. The Daily Herald in Chicago obtained a recording of a conversation between unidentified individuals on the plane and Terminal Radar Approach Control in Elgin. Someone on the plane — it’s unclear if it was Didier or a co-pilot, who survived the crash, according to the Chicago Tribune — told the controller they were “declaring an emergency,” were coasting and would not be able to reach Chicago Executive Airport.

Soon after, about 10:50 p.m., the Piper PA-31 struck some wooded lots, taking down trees and shearing branches, according to the Courier-News of Elgin. The plane crashed about 70 yards from a residential home and created a wreckage site about 250 feet long.

An eyewitness from another nearby residence told the Chicago Tribune that he heard a loud, strange “vibrating sound,” then saw a light out the window. He and his wife went out to investigate and saw the plane in flames.

According to the Daily Herald, however, fire officials said had fuel been present, the fire would have been much larger. An official from the National Transportation Safety Board said “no sign of fuel at all has been detected,” according to the Courier-News. He would not, however, speculate that was the reason the plane crashed, adding that a full investigation typically takes between six months and a year to complete.

An eyewitness said Didier was unresponsive when he arrived at the plane. He told the Daily Herald that he pulled the co-pilot from the wreckage despite a broken leg, and the plane’s medic was already out of the aircraft, though an arm was badly damaged.

In addition to Didier, 75-year-old Ilome Bialek died at the scene. The Courier-News reported Wednesday that John Bialek, the 80-year-old whom Didier was transporting to Chicago for medical reasons, died from a heart attack caused by stress from the crash.

The medic and co-pilot were being treated for their injuries at a hospital in Libertyville on Wednesday. Officials described their injuries as non-life threatening.

The owner of Trans North Aviation, the medical transport company for which Didier was flying, told the Tribune it was the first fatal accident for his company in 30 years.

William Didier is survived by his wife, Connie; two children, Adam and Carrie; brother, Peter ;and three grandchildren. Services are scheduled for Saturday.