NTSB: Plane crashed, killing 2, after pilot aborted landing and circled around for another try

NTSB: Plane crashed after aborted landing in Ill.

BELLEVILLE, Ill. — An investigator says the fatal crash of a small plane in southwestern Illinois occurred while the pilot was trying for a second time to land at an airport in rain and fog.

John Brannen of the National Transportation Safety Board says the pilot had aborted a landing Sunday evening at St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia.

Brannen says the pilot apparently was circling back for another try when the single-engine plane went down into a house and hangar near Belleville.

St. Clair County Coroner Rick Stone has tentatively identified the victims as 65-year-old Donald Estell of Clayton, Mo., and 68-year-old Robert Clarkson of Belleville.

Investigators are still trying to pinpoint the cause of the crash.