A small plane carrying three people in Illinois crashed in a rural Pike County field Sunday night, killing one person and injuring two others, authorities said.
When a deputy arrived at the scene, one passenger was located along the interstate. The deputy then searched the area and located the wreckage shortly thereafter.
Two of the three people aboard were transported to area hospitals. The third was pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff said. Their identities have not been released.
The Illinois State Police is also assisting with the investigation, according to the sheriff's department.
Emergency crews from across the region responded to the crash, including fire departments from Griggsville, Pittsfield, Baylis, and North Pike.
Earlier Sunday, the Piper had completed two round-trip flights between Valkaria and Tampa in east-central Florida before beginning its northbound journey.
Earlier this month, two people died when a Beechcraft King Air carrying hurricane relief supplies to Jamaica crashed into a residential pond in Coral Springs, Florida, on Nov. 10. The plane, which belonged to International Air Services, had made four trips to Jamaica in the previous week as the island nation recovered from Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm that damaged roughly 120,000 buildings.
On Nov. 8, a 46-year-old pilot from St. Augustine died when his stunt plane crashed during a practice session at Keystone Heights Airport in Bradford County, Florida. The Extra EA 300/SC stunt plane burst into flames after the crash.