The red-tailed hawk burned in the crash of a small plane in Sugar Grove in January was euthanized Wednesday.
The bird was treated by Dawn Keller, founder of Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation, who had been optimistic about a full recovery.
But the bird had respiratory complications from inhaling fumes from the fiery crash.
The crash occurred at about 7 p.m. Jan. 23, shortly after the plane took off from nearby Aurora Municipal Airport.
The twin-engine Smith Aerostar crashed just north of a home at Route 47 and Old Oaks Drive, across from Waubonsee Community College, in what witnesses described as a huge fireball.
The pilot and passenger, both Florida men, were killed.
The severely burned hawk was found in the snow at the scene shortly after the crash, and taken to the wildlife rehab center in Barrington.
“There is not a single feather that’s not burned off of that bird’s body,” Keller said at the time.
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
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