Medical Helicopter Catches on Fire Before Crashing with 3 Onboard in Illinois

Three people were injured in a medical helicopter crash on Thursday, April 24, in Hartford, Ill. 

Before the incident, the Hartford Fire Department announced it would be hosting ARCH Medical for a Thursday training, and a helicopter would land near Date Street in Hartford. The ARCH Air Medical MBB-BK 117 helicopter had three people on board and was operating out of Granite City, Ill. 

The aircraft crashed around 9:20 p.m. after it took off during the Hartford Fire Department training event, per the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) incident report. It was then “impacted [by] terrain for unknown reasons during the crew’s return to base,” per the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Multiple departments responded to the crash. The FAA and NTSB are investigating the incident.

Ashley Quigley, a resident near the crash site, told Fox 2 the helicopter went up around a foot before it “started hitting the trees, and stuff was flying.” 

“It was twisting all over, all of the sudden, it came down with a big boom and started catching fire,” Quigley told the news station. “The fire truck came around and started trying to put it out.”

“The fire went out a little bit but then it started going back up in big smoke again and they were just trying to grab the people who were on the ground, trying to help them,” she continued. “It was literally the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”

All three crew members were transported to local hospitals for evaluation, ARCH Air said in a statement on Thursday. The pilot and two crew members are all in stable condition after sustaining non-life-threatening injuries, per the Hartford Fire Department’s Friday, April 25 news release. 

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“Our thoughts and prayers are with the pilot, crew members, and their families. We appreciate the public’s cooperation while the incident is being investigated. We anticipate the roadway to be open soon,” the Hartford Fire Department said.

“We are aware of the terrible helicopter crash in Hartford and ask for your prayers for those injured tonight. This is a terrifying situation and we are still learning details,” Illinois State Representative Amy Elik said in a statement, per The Telegraph.