1 person is dead following a single engine plane crash Tuesday morning near Monroe Center.
The Federal Aviation Administration says that the plane went down in a field off Crill Road near I-39 and Route 72 in Ogle County.
Ogle County Sheriff Michael Harn said that the pilot reported smoke inside the plane prior to the crash.
Harn said that the pilot was not from the area. He started his flight in DeKalb and wanted to land in Rockford. The aircraft is registered to 77-year Thomas Plodzien of Monee, Illinois. His family has confirmed that he was flying the plane yesterday.
Sheriff Harn said that the plane was about a quarter of a mile off Crill Road in the corn field. The FAA is handling the cause of the crash with assistance from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The plane went down about 8 miles from the Chicago-Rockford International Airport.
A spokesperson from the FAA said that the plane was under "visual flight rules" which means there was no flight plan.
