BRODHEAD - One person died in an airplane crash near Brodhead Airport Monday evening.
Dennis R. Trone, 77, Petersburg, Ill., died in the crash. Trone had a hangar at the airport and was used to landing there.
Melanie Zweifel, Monroe, was on her way home from work in Janesville when she saw the plane crash.
"I was across the road and I saw it make a nose dive," she said. "I said "Oh, my God."
Zweifel said the plane was a little higher than the treetops and looked as if it was making a pass above the runway at the airport. It began to bank a little to the right when it suddenly fell to the ground.
The plane landed to the north of the runway in a freshly planted field, she said.
"It was shocking to see," Zweifel said. "It just went straight to the ground."
She immediately called 9-1-1, and as she made the call she saw a vehicle and a couple of people run to the crash site.
"I knew it couldn't be good," she said.
Zweifel has watched planes take off and land at the airport before but said she never expected to see something like what she saw Monday.
And hopes she never sees something like it again.
Green County Sheriff's Dispatch received a 9-1-1 call around 5 p.m. Monday advising a plane had gone down near the airport. A passing motorist advised the plane had crashed in a field next to the airport.
Deputies along with Brodhead Fire, EMS and Police responded to the scene.
Initial investigation indicates the one-engine amateur-built airplane was airborne when witnesses observed the plane crash in the field.
Trone was the lone occupant of the plane. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, the sheriff's department and Green County Coroner's office continue to investigate the crash.
An autopsy has been scheduled for today.
Richard Weeden, Brodhead, who is involved with operating the airport, said amateur-built airplanes are common and are also very safe.
The last plane crash at the Brodhead Airport took place in August 2005 when a single-engine plane operated by Robin Bolsey, 54, Edgerton, crashed into a vehicle driven by Margie Pribble, 61, Brodhead.
The airplane's landing gear struck the top of Pribble's vehicle, breaking the back window.
Bolsey sustained non-life threatening injuries and was taken to Mercy Hospital in Janesville.
The airport houses about 50 airplanes, Weeden said.
Dennis R. Trone, 77, Petersburg, Ill., died in the crash. Trone had a hangar at the airport and was used to landing there.
Melanie Zweifel, Monroe, was on her way home from work in Janesville when she saw the plane crash.
"I was across the road and I saw it make a nose dive," she said. "I said "Oh, my God."
Zweifel said the plane was a little higher than the treetops and looked as if it was making a pass above the runway at the airport. It began to bank a little to the right when it suddenly fell to the ground.
The plane landed to the north of the runway in a freshly planted field, she said.
"It was shocking to see," Zweifel said. "It just went straight to the ground."
She immediately called 9-1-1, and as she made the call she saw a vehicle and a couple of people run to the crash site.
"I knew it couldn't be good," she said.
Zweifel has watched planes take off and land at the airport before but said she never expected to see something like what she saw Monday.
And hopes she never sees something like it again.
Green County Sheriff's Dispatch received a 9-1-1 call around 5 p.m. Monday advising a plane had gone down near the airport. A passing motorist advised the plane had crashed in a field next to the airport.
Deputies along with Brodhead Fire, EMS and Police responded to the scene.
Initial investigation indicates the one-engine amateur-built airplane was airborne when witnesses observed the plane crash in the field.
Trone was the lone occupant of the plane. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration, the sheriff's department and Green County Coroner's office continue to investigate the crash.
An autopsy has been scheduled for today.
Richard Weeden, Brodhead, who is involved with operating the airport, said amateur-built airplanes are common and are also very safe.
The last plane crash at the Brodhead Airport took place in August 2005 when a single-engine plane operated by Robin Bolsey, 54, Edgerton, crashed into a vehicle driven by Margie Pribble, 61, Brodhead.
The airplane's landing gear struck the top of Pribble's vehicle, breaking the back window.
Bolsey sustained non-life threatening injuries and was taken to Mercy Hospital in Janesville.
The airport houses about 50 airplanes, Weeden said.