One dead in helicopter crash near storage unit facility in Red Bud, Illinois

A helicopter crashed Saturday afternoon off Market Street in Red Bud, killing one person, according to Illinois State Police.

The sole male occupant of the helicopter died.

Firefighters arrived on scene around 2:20 p.m., said firefighter J.R. Hudson. The helicopter crashed into a the E.Z. Self Storage unit at 1290 W. Market St.

The impact damaged one of the storage units, which police cordoned off with yellow tape. There were signs of fire and smoke damage on the heavily dented metal exterior of the building.

Illinois State Police, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the crash.

This story was originally published September 19, 2020 at 3:23 PM.

Kelsey Landis

Belleville News-Democrat

618-239-2101

Kelsey Landis is an Illinois state affairs and politics reporter for the Belleville News-Democrat. She joined the newsroom in January 2020 after her first stint at the paper from 2016 to 2018. She graduated from Southern Illinois University in 2010 and earned a master’s from DePaul University in 2014. Landis previously worked at The Alton Telegraph. At the BND, she focuses on informing you about what your lawmakers are doing in Springfield and Washington, D.C., and she works to hold them accountable. Landis has won Illinois Press Association awards for her work, including the Freedom of Information Award.