ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) — A helicopter crashed nose-first into a home in a suburb northwest of Chicago on Monday, killing at least four aboard.
A woman alone in the brick ranch house escaped injury when the helicopter demolished her garage, Sgt. Kenneth Galinski said.
The force of the crash left the blue and white body of the helicopter crumpled and its tail jutting in the air.
Neighbors said it sounded as if the helicopter was flying low over the housetops just before the 2 p.m. crash.
“I heard it just, boom, smash into the garage down the street,” said Bryan Gielicz, who lives four houses from the scene.
He said he ran to the home and shouted into the garage but received no answer. He said a fire flared briefly but was extinguished by neighbors with a garden hose.
Federal investigators were en route to the scene, Galinski said.