Police trying to determine cause of crash which left 1 dead, SUV in pond

The crash that killed 57-year-old United Airlines skycap Thomas Wehlus is still under investigation, Des Plaines police said Sunday.

Karl Wehlus said his father, a Des Plaines resident, was coming home from work Saturday afternoon when his sport utility vehicle, which was headed north on Mount Prospect Road near Howard Street, drove off the roadway and into an ice-covered retention pond.

A witness entered the frigid water and pulled Wehlus from the vehicle. Wehlus was taken to the emergency room at Alexian Brothers Hospital, where he later died.

The man who rescued Wehlus, who has not been identified, is being treated for exposure at the hospital.

Des Plaines police Cmdr. William Prim said it is going to take a while for an accident reconstruction team to finish its part of the investigation. Once that is complete, there will be a follow-up investigation.

"The initial indication is that he was swerving to avoid another vehicle," Prim said. "How much that impacted the end result is what needs to be determined."

The road is extremely well-traveled, and is especially used by O'Hare employees. Karl Wehlus said his father was employed at the airport as a skycap for United Airlines.

"That was his lifetime career," he said.

Wehlus's survivors include two children.

Karl Wehlus said he had a chance to meet the man who tried to rescue his father. The man, he said, is going to be fine.

"I did talk to him and thank him for what he did," he said.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

"I don't even know if it has sunk in yet. It's unbelievable how something can happen like that," Karl Wehlus said.