2 dead in Illinois after single-engine aircraft crashes on highway

PEORIA, Ill. — Two people died Saturday when a small, single-engine aircraft crashed on a highway in Illinois.

The aircraft crashed about 12:30 p.m. Saturday on a stretch of Route 116 in Hanna City.

The victims, one man and one woman, have not been identified. Coroner Jamie Harwood said autopsies would be completed Monday. The man was conscious when first responders arrived on scene, while the woman was not, Harwood said.

The plane was a Mooney M20K, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the accident.

Nearby business owner Ron Gulley was sitting in his restaurant, the Coffee Can, when he saw the plane skid by and hit the corner of another restaurant. He ran outside, along with a first responder who was in his business, and saw the man and woman in the plane. He said the propeller and the engine had been pushed back toward the man and woman.

"It was just a mess," Gulley said.