The crash happened in Cedar Lake in Lake County at about 2 p.m. Officials said the Robinson R22 helicopter crashed into the south end of the lake between 140th and 145th avenues.
On a picture-perfect day, many in Cedar Lake were taking in the lakefront views, and the whole scene playing out in front of neighbors’ eyes. They saw two people jump out of the helicopter to safety as the crash happened.
The sounds of a low-flying helicopter caught Joyce Gluth’s attention.
“I just heard the helicopter, and it sounded pretty low and I thought they were looking for someone,” Gluth said.
A spokesperson with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said, thankfully, no one was injured.
“It was discovered that two individuals in the helicopter, both of them had swam to shore, and were okay and uninjured,” said Indiana DNR Conservation Officer Alex Neel.
After the two people on board were taken to safety, crews in the water shifted their focus to containing any leakage from the submerged helicopter. They set up a buoy boom perimeter around the crash site before they were able to hoist the aircraft from from the lake.
“If they would have landed in the street or landed in a house then it could have been really a disaster,” Gluth said. “It was pretty busy when this happened. There were boats and jet skis going all over, and it’s amazing that they didn’t impact any of them on their way down.”
The cause of the crash is not yet clear. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
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