18-year-old student pilot dies after plane crash into backyard, Wisconsin officials say
A student pilot died after the plane he was flying crashed into a Wisconsin backyard, officials said.
The 18-year-old had taken off from a Milwaukee-area airport before he reported trouble with the plane’s engine at about 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 26. Soon after, the single-engine aircraft went down behind a home, according to the Wauwatosa Police Department.
The pilot was taken out of the “heavily damaged” plane and brought to a hospital in critical condition, officials said. He had several injuries and was pronounced brain dead on May 28.
The 18-year-old was identified as Daniel Perelman of Brookfield, roughly 15 miles west of Milwaukee.
No one else was injured in the crash. Before the incident, police said Perelman was on a solo flight in a small Cessna 152 plane.
“Daniel had taken off from Timmerman Airport and had made one pass, landed touch and go, and then radioed in that he was having engine failure and that he did not know what to do,” the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s office said in a report. “The Sgt. stated that the flaps were up which may have indicated a power failure and it also indicates the Engine was not running.”
After the two-seat plane crashed, footage from WISN and other media outlets showed mangled wreckage in the Wauwatosa neighborhood. Rashad Hicks said he heard a loud noise and was in disbelief when his wife told him a plane went down in their yard.
“There was a guy inside the plane so all I did was try to coach him to keep breathing,” Hicks told WISN.
As of May 30, the National Transportation Safety Board said it was looking into the crash and had sent an investigator to the site.
“Once on scene, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft,” spokesperson Jennifer Gabris told McClatchy News in an email. “Part of the investigation will be to request radar data, weather information, maintenance records and the pilot’s medical records. NTSB investigators will look at the human, machine and environment as the outline of the investigation.”
Police have asked anyone who saw the crash or took video of it to call them at 414-471-8430.
This story was originally published May 30, 2022 at 5:28 PM with the headline "18-year-old student pilot dies after plane crash into backyard, Wisconsin officials say."
