Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration along with the National Transportation Safety Board continue to investigate a plane crash Friday morning south of Rochelle in rural Lee County.
Reports indicate that the aircraft, a 1982 Air Tractor, was crop dusting in the 1900 block of Steward Road when the plane struck a cellular radio tower and crashed to the ground. The plane did not take off from the Rochelle Municipal Airport.
Emergency personnel located the aircraft in the cornfield as the engine area was on fire. The pilot from the plane was able to free himself and walked away from the crash. He was later transported by ambulance to a Rockford hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The plane was a total loss from the crash. The cellular tower and a smaller tower in the field collapsed following the incident.
