On Tuesday morning, an 84-year-old man and a 82-year-old woman were sleeping in a bedroom on the left side of their home when a small plane crashed into their house. They avoided the crash by just inches, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The plane reportedly hit the couple's living room, which is eight inches away from the bedroom.
The pilot of the plane died in the accident. He was identified as Eric Quentin Howlett, 47. Firefighters spent hours working to recover his body from the debris, and he was declared dead on the scene.
"Eric was a good husband, a wonderful father and a hard worker who dedicated his life to his family and church,'' said Amy McMarrow, whose son married Howlett's daughter. "He was just a good man who will be missed very much."
The plane, which was heading to Ohio State University in Columbus, started having engine problems shortly after departing from Midway airport. Fuel was apparently leaking front the plane.
The plane went down about a quarter of a mile from the airport and crashed through the front of the couple's home. Its tail got caught upward in the roof of a neighbor's home.
The neighbor, Luz Cazares, 62, told the Chicago Tribune that assuming the couple had been injured or killed, she hopped over her fence to check on them.
"A big part of the airplane was in their living room," Cazares said. "I thought they were dead.
"I ran to the back of the yard, I jumped the fence and I knocked the back door of the kitchen and she opened the door and I took her outside."
The elderly woman was confused and asking Cazares, "What is happening? What is happening?"
Shortly after, police officers arrived and helped the couple out of the house.
"They're OK. Not a scratch on them, not a scratch on them," a neighbor said. "They're shook up and bewildered."
