Two people were airlifted to Chicago hospitals Sunday evening after a hot air balloon that appeared to have run into power lines just outside of Lowell.
The Lowell Fire Department was sent at 6:57 p.m. June 2 to the 18100 block of Oklahoma Street, just east of town and south of Indiana 2 for a hot-air balloon emergency, according to a fire department release. First responders found the downed aircraft in a bean field south of Indiana 2, in the 19000 block of Mississippi Street, the release said.
Three people were in the basket, which still had its balloon attached, and it appeared as though they had been electrocuted when the aircraft hit power lines, the release said. One of the passengers was airlifted to University of Chicago Medical Center; the other was airlifted to Loyola Hospital, according to the release.
An ambulance, meanwhile, took the balloon’s pilot to Franciscan Hospital in Crown Point, the release said. The condition of the three is currently unknown.
Responders at the scene called the National Transportation Safety Board’s Response Operations Center, which secured the crash site and assigned a Federal Aviation Administration officer to investigate, the release said. Neither the NTSB nor Region Ballooning owner Andy Sizemore returned requests for comment Monday. Region Ballooning had two balloons scheduled to take off around 5:30 p.m. from Stoney Run County Park, located about 8 miles northeast of the crash site, according to its Facebook page.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Department, Lake County 911 Dispatch Center, Crown Point Fire Rescue, Lake Dalecarlia Fire Department and Tri-Creek Ambulance Service assisted.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.