Snag, crash, blackout: Ultralight leaves 1,680 without power in Bureau County
By Terri Simon
tsimon@shawnews.com
Shaw News Service
OHIO – Folks from Walnut to Ohio were without power most of Monday night and well into the early morning hours Tuesday. But it wasn’t a storm, or too many air conditioners competing for juice.
It was more like an airborne assault.
An ultralight pilot, taking advantage of Monday’s warm weather and clear skies, ran afoul of a power line, resulting in a 7-hour blackout for more than 1,600 ComEd customers.
Richard M. Besler, 46, of Ohio, was piloting his ultralight aircraft when he hit a line near Long Street and Hannon Road on Ohio’s northeast side.
According to the report filed by Officer Walter Mack of the Bureau County’s Sheriff’s Department, Besler told Mack he knew the aircraft was too low, and he was “attempting to increase his altitude, but due to the heat and high humidity, he could not get much lift.”
Besler said he caught the right rear tire on the wire, which stopped the aircraft, but allowed its para-wing to continue to move forward, pointing it toward the ground.
Besler said when the line broke, he attempted to regain the speed needed to correct the wing’s angle and avoid a crash but was unsuccessful.
The accident was reported at 8:21 p.m., and when Mack arrived, Besler and passenger Kurt W. Peterson, 52, of Walnut, were being attended to by Ohio first responders and Princeton emergency services workers. The men reported only minor injuries and refused medical treatment on the scene.
ComEd media relations spokesman Peter Pedraza confirmed the power went out at 8:10 p.m. Monday in Ohio and Walnut and said it was completely restored by 3:15 a.m. Tuesday. Pedraza said 1,680 customers were affected by the outage, and the incident was under investigation.
Regarding the plane, which was removed from the scene by the Ohio Fire Department, Besler told Mack it would require “major repairs.”
Bureau County Sheriff John Thompson said while the plane was flying too low, there would be no tickets issued by his department.
“They were fortunate to survive both the electrical charge from the wire and the crash,” Thompson said.
