Three people were killed when a small airplane crashed along Interstate 55 near Lincoln Tuesday morning, Illinois State Police said.

The plane, identified by the National Transportation Safety Board as a single-engine, four-seat Cessna 172, crashed into the southbound lanes of the interchange of I-55, just north of state routes 10-121 at approximately 8:49 a.m.

Logan County coroner Robert Thomas confirmed the number of people who died, with public identification of the victims pending notification of relatives. The autopsies will be done in Bloomington.

Authorities have not indicated where the flight originated from or where it was headed.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane crashed under unknown circumstances and was fully engulfed upon impact.

Multiple agencies responded to the crash scene.

Among the first to the scene was the Lincoln Rural Fire Protection, which is manned by full-time staff and volunteers. It dispatched two engines, a ladder truck and a water tanker.

Chief Chris Buse, who arrived at the site in his own vehicle, said crews took down the fire in a little under 10 minutes.

"There was heavy fire, so they went into suppression efforts," Buse said.

I-55 southbound lanes at milepost 126 were shut down for several hours following the crash. They reopened around 2:30 p.m., according to ISP. Northbound lanes remained open.

The Cessna 172 has been continually produced since 1956. More 172s have been built than any other aircraft.

The NTSB will lead the investigation into the crash, with participation of the FAA, said Elizabeth Isham Cory of FAA's public affairs. The investigation will take a year or more, she said, with updates posted at NTSB.gov.

On July 11, 2018, an airplane made an emergency landing on northbound I-55, near Lawndale. The plane clipped a car upon making the landing, but there were no injuries in the incident. The single-engine Cessna 182B was trying to land at the Logan County Airport when it lost power.

Contact Steven Spearie: 788-1524, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/stevenspearie. Staff writers Bernard Schoenburg and Brenden Moore contributed to the story.





