On July 22, the Chicago Tribune reported that a small experimental plane crashed near Chicago’s lakefront on the Southeast Side. Fortunately, the pilot – who lives in St. Joseph, Mich. – was able to stand and talk to emergency crews after the accident.

The pilot had taken off from Oshkosh, Wis., and was headed to Benton Harbor, Mich., when the crash occurred. He suffered head injuries and was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in fair condition. No one else was inside the aircraft, which was intact, lying upside down in a marsh.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the plane was identified as a Glastar fixed-wing single-engine, an experimental aircraft. The FAA is investigating and will notify the National Transportation Safety Board, which may investigate the wreck.

Small plane crashes in Illinois are not uncommon. In May of this year, CBS 2/WBBM reported that two men were killed after a plane crashed near the Lake In The Hills airport.

In that case, the plane was a Beech Bonanza 35, and it crashed into a former quarry, which is now filled with mud. “It appeared the plane was on approach to the airport and the runway was less than a half mile away. There were brisk crosswinds at the time.”

Another fatal airplane crash occurred in November of 2011. CBS News reported that “a medical transport plane crashed in Riverwoods, a suburb of Chicago, killing three of the five people on board, including the patient. The small plane went down about 25 miles northwest of Chicago, just a few miles from its destination at Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board—an independent federal agency charged with determining the probable cause of transportation accidents, promoting transportation safety, and assisting victims of transportation accidents and their families—there were 1,435 small-plane crashes nationwide in 2010. Of that number, 267 caused the death of 450 passengers or crew. Pilot error, improper maintenance, weather-related accidents, and air traffic control errors are among the causes most frequently cited.