LINCOLN, Ill. (WAND) - The pilot and two passengers killed in a Logan County plane crash were identified Wednesday afternoon. 

A press release from Illinois State Police said 22-year-old Mitchell W. Janssen of Princeville was the pilot. The passengers were 33-year-old Pulaski, Wisc., man Matthew R. Hanson and 30-year-old Urbana man Kevin G. Chapman. 

Mitchell W. Janssen

Mitchell W. Janssen, 22 (Credit: Bradley University) 
Kevin Chapman

Kevin G. Chapman, 30 (Photo courtesy: Chapman family) 

The crash occurred at about 8:49 a.m. Tuesday on I-55 (mile post 126) near Lincoln. The plane was fully engulfed in flames when it made impact in the middle of the interstate. 

The National Transportation Safety Board released more information about the crash Wednesday morning. Officials said the tail number of the single-engine Cessna 172 was N157SF and added the aircraft was registered to a JAD-AKD LLC out of Bloomington. 

The plane took off from Bloomington before it crashed. There was no flight path submitted and the plane was not tracking, per the NTSB.

NTSB officials said Wednesday they interviewed two witnesses who saw the crash. They were able to recover the engine, wings and tail of the aircraft, while everything else was damaged by fire.

NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration investigators are expected to be on the scene through at least Thursday. A preliminary report is expected within 7 days from March 4.

Janssen is a former pitcher for the Bradley University baseball team. He became the team's top starter at the position halfway through his junior year and earned several awards, including Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Player of the Week and Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week honors.

WAND-TV is working to obtain more information about he passengers.