RANTOUL — George Harwell exited his motor home at Prairie Pines Campground, Rantoul, on Sunday morning after the wind began to kick up.

"I ... came out and looked to the west and saw it was raining in this field," said Harwell, a retired corporate jet pilot. "I told the wife the rain was coming."

Harwell then heard an airplane engine rev up. He re-entered the motor coach, and the power went out. The next thing he saw were flames reflecting in the window of the motor coach next to his, and he ran to see if he could help.

Harwell said a plane was "completely engulfed in flames."

The plane had struck power lines serving the campground and came down in the field west of the campground in a fiery crash that killed Jon Buerkett, 56; his wife, Dana Buerkett, 47; and their daughter, Morgan Buerkett, 19, of Champaign.

They were killed when the single-engine plane Mr. Buerkett was flying went down near the Rantoul airport shortly after takeoff about 9:20 a.m. Sunday.

All three family members died from blunt force trauma, according to preliminary autopsy results released Monday night. Toxicology results are pending, according to a report from Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup. Positive identification would take another day or two, Northrup's office said Monday night.

Airport manager Bill Clayton said Mr. Buerkett would have taken off headed west and then turned south.

The Buerketts were planning a trip to Florida, where Morgan Buerkett was to attend a camp to assess and enhance her volleyball skills. She was a member of the University of Chicago volleyball team.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration continued to examine the crash site and the remains of the crash Monday.

More in Tuesday's News-Gazette.

Rantoul Press Assistant Editor Matt Daniels assisted with this story.