Wheeling Plane Crash a 'Godsend': Pilot Barely Avoids Apartments, Lands in Street (VIDEO)
Residents at an apartment complex outside of Chicago ran screaming into their homes on Tuesday after realizing that a plane was headed straight towards their homes.
The plane crash occurred in Wheeling, Ill. within feet of the Foxboro Apartments. The apartments are located near the Chicago Executive Airport where the pilot was attempting to land before the plane came crashing down. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro confirmed the crash on Wolf Road, northwest of the airfield, according to The Chicago Sun Times.
"Normally those planes come over the lake, and come down, but we saw it wasn't going to come down where it was supposed to," Jakaila Johnson, an 11-year-old girl who witnessed the plane coming down, told the paper. "We ran inside the house and screamed, 'A plane crashed!' . . . We thought it might blow up."
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The plane was a twin-engine Beechcraft Super King Air 200. Federal Aviation Administration records indicated that the plane, built in 1981, is registered to TennAir LLC, of Clarksville, Tenn. The aircraft landed upright before becoming tangled in a tree. None of the residents in the area reported any injury.
Airport Manager Dennis Rouleau applauded the pilot's quick thinking, stating that he may have saved several lives.
"To develop a problem and then put it down on the road instead - it could have been a lot worse," Rouleau told The Daily Herald. "It could have been in some buildings, but he was able to put it down on the street to avoid injuries to himself and people on the ground."
Nick Helmer, mayor of Prospect Heights, said the result of the crash was a "godsend."
"It would have been a disaster," Helmer told the news station. "Actually what happened was a godsend. I think we're very fortunate to have an airplane accident that was a walkaway situation. It's very fortunate that nobody was hurt - either on the ground or those in the air."
