Two killed, one injured in crash near airport in Wheeling

Two people were killed and a third injured when, authorities say, a truck driver blew through a stop sign and collided with an SUV Wednesday morning in Wheeling.

The collision sent the vehicles careening through a fence and onto the grounds of Chicago Executive Airport, authorities said.

Preliminary results of the Wheeling Police Department investigation show that the box truck, traveling east on Messner Drive, struck the SUV that was heading north on Wolf Road at 7:35 a.m. The impact sent both vehicles inside the airport's fenced grounds, with the truck ending up on its side and the SUV on its roof, landing in a grassy area on the airport's west side.

The driver of the SUV, 39-year-old Jose Urbano of Prospect Heights, died from injuries sustained in the crash, police said.

The passenger of the box truck, 26-year-old David A. Sosa of Chicago, died after he was ejected and landed on the pavement of a nearby taxiway.

The truck driver, 21-year-old Araujo Rivaldi of Prospect Heights, was taken to the trauma center at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he is listed in serious condition, officials said.

No other injuries were reported.

The collision led to a massive response from area police and fire departments, closed the airport's secondary runway during the investigation and rerouted vehicle traffic from Wolf Road to alternate routes for about seven hours.

Airport officials said the secondary runway wasn't in use at the time. The main runway remained open, they said.

No aircraft, airport vehicles or airport personnel were involved in the crash.

Wheeling and Prospect Heights firefighters were dispatched to the scene, where they used foam to extinguish a fire in the SUV.

The Northwest Suburban Major Case Assistance Team's Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction Unit - a multijurisdictional team of crash investigators from several area law enforcement agencies - is handling the investigation.