Fatal Galt Airport crash witness reported hearing sound like ‘wood-chipper’

The airplane involved in a fatal crash last month hit 30-to-40-foot trees west of the Galt Airport runway with both wings separating from the rest of the aircraft, the National Transportation Safety Board reported.

Galt Airport owner Claude Sonday was killed in the single-plane crash, which occurred on Nov. 25 in Wonder Lake, the McHenry County Coroner’s Office reported at the time.

Details of Sonday’s final flight and the crash were released last week as part of the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report. The probable cause of the crash won’t be shared until the final report is completed, which can take 12 to 24 months, a spokesman said.

The Extra EA300 aircraft, a type of aerobatic airplane, left Galt Airport at 3:58 p.m., completing at least two aerobatic maneuvers before heading toward Antioch, the report states. At 4:05 p.m., the airplane made a left 360-degree turn over a residential area about two miles south of downtown Antioch, according to the preliminary report.

The plane then turned west, passing Genoa City, Wisconsin, before heading back south and entering the traffic pattern to land at the airport, the report states.

Another airplane, a Piper PA-28-181, was in the traffic pattern to land ahead of the Extra EA300, the report states. The pilot of the Piper said the other plane seemed to be flying faster than him.

The pilot made contact with Sonday, who acknowledged seeing him, but after being “slightly disoriented by sun glare” on his final approach, he decided to do a touch-and-go landing to ensure enough runway space for the Extra landing behind him.

After the Piper landed, “a concerned individual approached the pilot of the Piper to ask if he had seen the pilot of the Extra,” the report states.

Another witness, who was east of the crash site, reported seeing an airplane in a descent toward the airport and hearing its engine running, followed by “what sounded like a wood-chipper,” the report states. He did not hear any change in engine noise.

The main wreckage was in a wooded area about 225 feet west of the initial tree impact, according to the report. An examination of the airplane and its engine found no pre-impact mechanical anomalies and no evidence of a bird strike during the flight.