UPDATE: 1 Woman Dead Following Plane Crash Near Bolingbrook's Clow Airport

By Ron Kremer and Dawn Aulet
 
A woman was pronounced dead at the scene of a small plane crash near Clow International Airport in Bolingbrook early on Wednesday evening, according to Bolingbrook Police Lt. Mike Rompa.

A man also onboard on the plane escaped from the flames of the wreck and was taken to Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital before being transferred to Loyola University Medical Center with severe burns.

He likely survived only because of the quick-thinking and timely assistance provided by stunned onlookers on the ground, one of them Mike Grohar, the manager of Andy's Frozen Custard, a popular eatery right next door to the Chase Bank parking lot, site of the wreckage.

Grohar said an off-duty Bolingbrook Fire Department member used a jacket to extinguish the flames on the man's body and stayed with him until paramedics arrived.

"I didn't even know it was a plane until afterwards," Grohar said. "I ran out the side door (of Andy's) ... I honestly don't know how I got here."

VIDEO: From the Scene, Deputy Chief Describes Response to Plane Crash

Erick Ontiveros, a Bolingbrook resident who works at the Chipotle Mexican Grill on South Weber Road, said patrons in the restaurant jumped to help shortly after the accident.

"I didn't see when the plane crashed," Ontiveros said. "I saw the explosion, though. There were two guys eating here. I guess they were from the Bolingbrook Fire Department. The guy that was on fire—he was on the (ground). They put a jacket over him.They had on (Bolingbrook Fire Department shirts) and they were talking about it. I'm pretty sure they were off-duty."

VIDEO: 'There's Somebody on Fire,' says Man Who Ran to Help

During an earlier briefing with media, Bolingbrook Police Deputy Chief Tom Ross said no one was injured on the ground and that the fire was contained to the Chase parking lot. Three vehicles in the lot—located at 262 S.  Weber Road—were damaged.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. Ross said the FAA has been summoned to the scene.

Rompa said it is believed the plane was trying to land at Clow Airport, but that it crashed into a tree and a light pole before smashing into the vehicles parked in the Chase Bank lot and bursting into flames.

A woman who lives nearby heard the crash and said, "I thought something fell very heavy on the second floor."

Rompa said police responded to call for help at 5:15 p.m. The deceased woman—believed to be a passenger in the plane flown by her husband—was pronounced dead at 6:45 p.m. by a Will County deputy coroner. Officials do not know the make of the plane at this time.

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