A helicopter crashed into a lake in Indiana on June 20, and its passengers survived. The accident happened at Cedar Lake, where nearby residents described hearing an aircraft flying over their homes before an audible collision with the water.
The helicopter belonged to SummersSkyz Inc., a flight school based in Lansing, Illinois. The company’s owner Robert Summers confirmed that he and his company are working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Transportation Safety Board to determine what went wrong.
Both people in the aircraft survived the accident, which Indiana Conservation Officer Alex Neel described as miraculous. “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. So the fact that the helicopter was able to crash and they were okay, and were able to swim to shore is a miracle.”
Neither of those involved in the incident required medical treatment and walked away unhurt.
Helicopter travel is extremely popular in the United States, and accidents are mercifully rare. As of 2018, the helicopter market was worth about $20 billion and industry experts expect this to rise to $25 billion by 2025. The aircraft is most often used for emergencies or tourist expeditions, and given America’s beauty, several companies offer customers the experience of seeing it by air. The most popular tours in the US include a flight through Manhattan, the chance to soar over Las Vegas, a bird’s eye view of the Grand Canyon, and a trip through the Niagara Falls region.
Statistics from the Federal Aviation Authority reveal that there are just over 100 accidents per year and the good news is that most of these are not fatal. For example, in 2017, there were 123 accidents and only 20 involved fatalities. In 2018, there were 121 accidents, 24 of which resulted in deaths. Between 2013 and 2019, accidents dropped from 146 to 122 respectively. The fatalities figure also dropped from 62 to 51 over the same period.
