Cargo plane slides off runway at Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling

A cargo plane from Detroit slid off a runway Tuesday morning at Chicago Executive Airport in northwest suburban Wheeling.

About 5 a.m., the Falcon 20 cargo plane, which departed from Detroit’s Willow Run Airport, slid at the south end of a runway onto the Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS), a bed of materials placed at the end of a runway to stop any aircraft that moves onto it, according to Chicago Executive Airport spokesman Robert Mark.

“The EMAS did its job,” Mark said. “It’s there to catch an airplane to stop it from going into Palatine Road.”

There were two pilots on board at the time, neither of whom were injured, he said.

It was not immediately known why the plane was unable to stop before it reached the end of the runway.

The plane is registered to Kalitta Equipment LLC out of Ypsilanti, Michigan, according to FAA records.

The plane was sent to retrieve an organ that was going to be delivered to another city, but was not carrying any organs when it landed in Chicago, Mark said.

The FAA is investigating.