Savoy- It was a scary situation at University of Illinois Willard Airport Wednesday afternoon after a helicopter crashed, something that does not happen very often according to airport officials.
"In the first year that I've been here this is the first real accident we've had. There have been minor accidents over the years, we hate to say they are common occurrences, but we train for them all the time, because hard landings, bouncing, going off the side of the runways, those things tend to happen a lot." said Gene Cossey, Executive Director at University of Illinois Willard Airport.
Officials at the airport tell WAND that the crash involved a Robinson R22 helicopter, which is a smaller helicopter typically used for training. The helicopter contained two passengers during the time of the crash, a student pilot and the instructor. Around 1:30 pm, the pilot was attempting to do auto rotations, when the helicopter skid across the runway, and ultimately flipped over. Emergency personnel were on scene immediately, but both passengers were uninjured.
The name of the company has not been released, but WAND does know that the private company does training out of the airport with three helicopters. The Flight Standards District Office will be investigating the crash, which is common in all aircraft crashes, but officials expect the investigation to be short as there were no injuries or damage done to the airport.
The airport was closed briefly immediately following the crash, but commercial flights resumed shortly after. There was no distribution or cancellations to flights at the airport.
The helicopter will likely be a total loss.
