Suzanne Sweeney certainly
still feels pain over the death of her daughter, former Illinois State
Police Trooper Erin Hehl, who was killed 17 years ago during a training
exercise.
But Sweeney and the rest of Hehl’s family in
attendance at an Oct. 30 dedication of an overpass in Hehl’s name also
felt proud and honored.
“This feels wonderful,” Sweeney said.
“This is a tribute to her and the life she lived. There are a lot of her
friends here, and we are very honored.”
Oct. 30 marked exactly
17 years since Hehl, who was 34 at the time, was killed while flying
with a contractor pilot at suburban Frankfort Airport in Illinois State
Police helicopter AirOne. She was a 1981 Niles West High School graduate
and had lived in Skokie and Morton Grove.
Hehl and the pilot,
George Kurelic Jr., who also was killed, were practicing touch-and-go
landings when one of the skids of the A-Star Eurocopter got stuck in
mud, causing the helicopter to flip over.
A gathering and
ceremony was held Oct. 30 at the Burr Ridge Police Department, 7700 S.
County Line Road. From there, a ceremonial motorcade proceeded south on
Interstate 55 beneath the memorial overpass at state Route 83. Signs in
both directions of the interstate designate the bridge as Trooper Erin
Hehl Memorial Overpass.
“With the approval of the Department of
Transportation, we are now putting overpasses in memoriam,” said Monique
Bond, a spokesperson for the Illinois State police. “We weren’t able to
do this when it happened, but we want this to be visible to people and
to never forget.”
Hehl was an 11-year veteran of the Illinois
State Police. She enrolled in the Illinois State Police Academy in 1986,
began her career in District 3, and joined the State Police Marine
Patrol in 1987. She became a certified diver during her tenure with the
Marine Patrol. She was reassigned to road duties in 1991, and joined the
department helicopter project in 1995.
She was the first female
trooper to serve on sea, land an air. Hehl received a private pilot
certificate with a helicopter rating in September 1997.
Story and photos: http://hinsdale.suntimes.com
NTSB Identification: CHI98GA025.
The docket is stored in the Docket Management System (DMS). Please contact Records Management Division
Accident occurred Thursday, October 30, 1997 in FRANKFORT, IL
Probable Cause Approval Date: 11/20/2000
Aircraft: Aerospatiale AS350B, registration: N911RR
Injuries: 2 Fatal.
:
NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or
conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel,
and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this public
aircraft accident report.
A witness reported that he was watching
the helicopter traveling in an easterly direction flying low above the
building when it circled back in a westerly direction somewhere around
the east end of the runway. While heading west above the runway it
looked like it was getting ready to land. He said that when the
helicopter was about 5 to 10 feet above the ground he turned his back
getting into his car. He heard an explosion and then a second explosion
and when he turned around he saw the flames from above the truck which
was parked between the airport and his car. He said he then took a few
steps to the east and then saw the helicopter in flames. The helicopter
was destroyed on impact with the terrain and a post-crash-fire alongside
runway 09/27. A post accident examination of the helicopter disclosed
no evidence of any pre-existing anomaly with the helicopter or the
engine.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
the
pilot in command misjudged the clearance with the terrain during a dark
night maneuvering approach to a runway. A related factor was the dark
night conditions.
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