8 Feared Dead in Wisconsin Plane Crash

A twin-engine plane en route from Chicago to Baraboo, Wis., crashed on a wooded hillside in southeastern Wisconsin today, killing up to eight people aboard, authorities said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said eight people were listed on the passenger list filed by the pilot before takeoff, but officials at the scene said they were not sure all eight were aboard.

Officials in Fort Atkinson confirmed five dead and said the death toll could rise. Debris was scattered for at least half a mile at the crash site, three miles east of Fort Atkinson.

In Chicago, Mort Edelstein, a spokesman for the FAA, said the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 200 turboprop took off from Meigs Field, on Chicago’s lakefront, at 7:51 a.m. bound for Baraboo. At about 8:25, he said, the pilot radioed a trouble call.

“The pilot radioed ‘Mayday, mayday!’ several times. He did not say what the problem was. Then there was silence,” Edelstein said.

The plane apparently was beginning its descent toward Baraboo when the crash occurred, Edelstein said.

Edelstein said the weather at the time was overcast, with light rain.

He said the plane was registered to Dempar Aviation of Wilmington, Del. But Edelstein said it was not known if the plane was an air taxi or a corporate aircraft.