Helicopter crashes on Tri-State Tollway
Tribune staff report
Published July 26, 2005, 12:26 PM CDT
An Illinois Department of Transportation helicopter crash-landed this morning on the Tri-State Tollway in the southwest suburbs.
Four people were aboard the aircraft, according to IDOT spokesman Matt Vanover. Earlier reports had put the number of people on board at five.
All four people -- an IDOT pilot and three employees of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority -- survived and were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn, with apparently minor injuries, officials said. Their names were not immediately available.
Onboard the helicopter were three men, ages 58, 57, and 50, and a 37-year-old woman, a hospital spokeswoman said. She could not give the men's conditions because they were undergoing tests, but said the woman was in good condition.
She could not identify who was the pilot.
The helicopter was on a routine flight to monitor and photograph construction zones and to assess traffic in and around work zones, according to a statement from the tollway authority. Such flights typically take place about once every two weeks.
The rough landing left the aircraft lying on its side, its main rotor and tail rotor snapped off. The helicopter did not strike any vehicles, there was no explosion or fire and no one on the ground was hurt.
The aircraft came down shortly about 10:15 a.m. on the northbound lanes of the tollway (Interstate Highway 294) a half-mile north of the 83rd Street toll plaza and 500 yards south of 88th Avenue, officials said.
The accident scene is in a residential area, near the suburbs of Bridgeview, Hickory Hills and Justice.
Witnesses told CLTV they saw the aircraft wobble and begin to spin before it hit the ground. One witness reported hearing a sputtering sound, then silence.
WGN-Ch. 9 aerial video of the accident scene showed a helicopter lying on its side at the tollway's shoulder, next to a sound barrier wall, covered by fire-retardant foam and surrounded by firefighters.
Northbound traffic was backed up for several miles on I-294 as vehicles were allowed pass the crash scene in the tollway's left lanes.
Tribune staff reporter Claire Heininger contributed to this story.