A twin-engine plane crashed into a Chicago house shortly after takeoff from Midway International Airport early Tuesday , killing the pilot and narrowly missing a couple who were sleeping in the residence , officials said . The pilot of the Aerocommander 500 cargo plane reported engine problems and asked controllers to let him return to Midway shortly before the craft slammed into the house about a quarter-mile short of a runway at 2:42 a.m. , Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said . The craft smashed into a living room , stopping just 8 inches from a couple who were sleeping in an adjacent bedroom in the 1.5-story brick house just southeast of the airport , Chicago Fire Department official Michael Fox said . The couple were not injured . `` They were very lucky . ... They were in a bedroom next to the living room , and the living room is gone , '' said Fox , the fire department 's chief of special operations . The name of the pilot , who was the only person aboard the craft , was not immediately released . The pilot was trying to land at Midway when the crash happened , said Tim Sorensen , an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board . Video from CNN affiliate WGN shows the tail of the plane sticking out of the home 's smashed front end . Firefighters put a layer of foam on leaking aviation fuel before it could reach an ignition source and start a fire , Fox said . The pilot had intended to fly to an Ohio State University airport near Columbus , according to the FAA . An investigation into what caused the crash will take up to a year , but a preliminary report could be released in a week , Sorensen said .
Wreckage came within 8 inches of sleeping couple , fire official says . Pilot was trying to return to Midway after reporting engine trouble , officials say . Twin-engine cargo plane slammed into brick house just southeast of airport .