A helicopter with two people on board reportedly crashed into an Indiana lake Monday and both passengers survived.
The helicopter wrecked into Cedar Lake, where nearby residents heard it flying over their homes and crashing, according to Fox 32 Chicago.
#DEVELOPING: Crews lift helicopter out of Cedar Lake after a crash happened early this afternoon. Witnesses tell me they heard it hovering before it crashed and say it submerged immediately, with people rushing over to help. DNR, local fire agencies on scene. @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/W0yme64tQJ
— Courtney Spinelli (@CourtSpinelliTV) June 19, 2023
“I live about four doors down from here and we heard the splash in the lake,” local resident David Crane said, according to Fox 32 Chicago. “I heard it and I stood up, and a few seconds later I got a text from my wife who’s a 911 operator, and she said that there was a plane crash in the lake by our house.” (RELATED: ‘My Whole Body Shut Down’: Woman Rescued From Bush Survived On Wine And Candy)
The two survivors were able to get to safety and refused medical treatment, the outlet noted.
Crews set up a buoy boom perimeter around the crash site to contain any leakage from the helicopter before they were able to hoist it up out of the lake, according to ABC 7.
A tail number search via Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records indicate the helicopter belonged to an aviation company called SummersSkyz Inc., according to Fox 32 Chicago.
Robert Summers, owner of SummersSkyz Inc., confirmed this and claimed he and his company are cooperating with the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board with investigating the crash, according to ABC 7.
“It’s incredible. It’s a helicopter crashing into a lake in water that you cannot touch the depth in, it’s 8 feet deep,” Indiana Conservation Officer Alex Neel said, according to Fox 32 Chicago. “So the fact that the helicopter was able to crash and they were okay, and were able to swim to shore is a miracle.”