‘Very, very fortunate’: No injuries when plane overshoots Chicago Executive runway

A small jet overshot a runway while landing Wednesday at Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling and crashed through a perimeter fence, stopping just short of Hintz Road.

The plane didn’t hit any cars and no one was hurt, Deputy Police Chief Michael Conway said.

“(We’re) very, very fortunate,” Conway said.

The twin-engine Gulfstream G150 is owned by the Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management insurance company of Rolling Meadows, federal aviation records indicate. A company spokesperson couldn’t be reached Wednesday.

The jet, which is based at Chicago Executive, was coming in from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Conway said. Two pilots were the only occupants.

A little after noon, the jet was landing on a north-south runway on the north side of the airport property when it went off the pavement, onto grass and blasted through the fence. It stopped “right at the curb” for Hintz Road, Conway said.

The tip of the plane’s nose could be seen extending slightly over the roadside gutter near Hintz Road’s eastbound lanes.

Safety equipment at the end of the runway kept the plane from going farther, according to an airport news release.

While Hintz’s eastbound lanes were temporarily shut down, the westbound lanes remained open to traffic. Orange traffic cones kept passing cars away from the jet and emergency vehicles parked on Hintz Road.

The runway used by the plane shut down after the crash. Normal operations at Chicago Executive were expected to resume later Wednesday, according airport officials.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.