Pilot, passenger identified in plane crash onto I-94, 911 calls released

RACINE CO. -- Racine County Sheriff's officials have identified the pilot and his passenger involved in a plane crash on Monday, October 22nd. A Skydive Midwest airplane made a rough landing onto I-94 near Highway 20 -- near the Racine County airport where it departed.

The pilot has been identified as 41-year-old Keith George of Mount Pleasant. The passenger has been identified as 26-year-old Megan Malinowski of Mount Pleasant.

Officials say the 1968 Beecher aircraft plane suffered a mechanical failure while trying to land, keeping George from slowing the aircraft down, causing him to overshoot the runway and land on the highway. Fortunately, there were no cars in the plane’s path, and no one was injured on the ground.

Malinowski was taken to the hospital with non life threatening injuries.

Also Thursday, the 911 calls relating to this incident were released.

911 Caller: "Yes ma'am, a helicopter just crashed on I-94 southbound at mile marker 334. It was making a landing, probably did an auto-rotation. Oh, no it's a helicopter. Its a twin engine airplane."

911 Caller: "There was a guy I just talked to. He says his girlfriend's hurt and there's two dogs in there."

The highway was shut down for four-and-a-half hours as investigators handled this situation Monday night.

Monday's crash was the second for the plane in two months. The plane crashed into a bean field in August of 2012 -- though their was a different pilot operating the plane at that time. In that case, the plane had to be towed back to the airport. There were no injuries.

On Tuesday, October 23rd, the skydive business was closed and a tarp covered the plane that made the hard landing. The Racine County Sheriff’s Office and the FAA are now handling the investigation.

It was cloudy and rainy on Monday -- though it is unclear at this time if the weather played a role in this incident.

Monitor FOX6 News and FOX6Now.com for updates on this developing story.

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