YouTube video blogger at ACCA Air Show in forced landing in Rock Falls

ROCK FALLS — YouTube aviation blogger Dan Gryder said he was the pilot of a Cessna 150 that flew into a corn field in a forced landing on Saturday during the ACCA Air Show near Whiteside County Airport.

Gryder, who video blogs under Probable Cause: Dan Gryder, and another man were shown in a video posted by Wolf Pilot Jay Urish. Both were talking and walking away from the crash site.

It appeared that the passenger was Matt Mansell, another video blogger. Indications were the plane was his. He had blogged earlier about his 3-hour flight to the air show in a plane with identical markings.

“On the go-around, I pulled the flap handle up and nothing happened,” Gryder says in the video. He attempted to make a turn, he explained, then told himself: “It’s going to be the cornfield.”

The Illinois State Police from District 1 in Sterling were on the scene. The preliminary investigation report showed that the crash took place in a field near East Thome Road and Calhoun Drive at about 5:48 p.m. The plane was identified as a white 1966 Cessna 150. Gryder, 60, of Hampton, Georgia, was listed as the pilot and refused medical attention. Mansell, 42, of Napoleon, Missouri, was the passenger and also refused medical attention. The state police said it could continue the investigation in association with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Responders cited in scanner traffic included Whiteside County Sheriff, Rock Falls police and fire departments, the Sterling Fire Department and CGH Medical Center.

Most of the afternoon’s flying activities were to conclude about 4 p.m.

Earlier in the day, Gryder had been on the schedule to fly a routine in a Douglas DC-3. As a video blogger, the ACCA website shows that his show, Probable Cause, has 26,500 subscribers.

Sunday was devoted to the departure of planes as they head to the AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.