Pilot of small plane that died in crash into Boone County neighborhood identified

Editor’s Note: The video in the above player is from a previous report.

Authorities identified the pilot who was killed when the small plane he was flying crashed into a residential neighborhood just east of Rockford on Saturday.

Boone County Coroner Rebecca Wigget announced on Wednesday that the pilot was identified as 83-year-old Richard McClung of Rockford.

His preliminary cause of death was determined to be from injuries received in the crash.

McClung was killed when the plane he was flying, a Whittman Tailwind airplane, crashed into a neighborhood near Poplar Grove under “unknown circumstances” on Feb. 14, authorities said.

Debris from the crash was scattered around the area, video showed. The airplane partially crushed a fence when it landed between two houses. One home was damaged, authorities said.

The crash prompted a gas leak in the area, forcing nearby residents to temporarily evacuate.

McClung’s death remains under investigation by the Boone County Coroner’s Office, Boone County Sheriff’s Department and the National Transportation Safety Board, Wigget said.

No additional information was immediately provided.