Four people were killed, including a kid, after a helicopter slammed into a radio tower in Houston, Texas, on Sunday night. According to Houston police, the disaster occurred at around 7:54 p.m. US time when a private aircraft collided with a radio tower in the city’s Second Ward.
All four people on the helicopter were killed, while no one on the ground was hurt in the event. The Houston Fire Department reported that the accident occurred in the city’s Greater East End area. Horrifying videos of the disaster, which show the collision and the helicopter exploding into flames, have appeared on social media platforms.
Houston Police Chief J. Noe Diaz said during a news conference that the chopper “either struck a cable” coming from the tower or “actually struck the tower.” It was unclear whether all four persons aboard the private helicopter died, and officials did not know the child’s age.
Following the radio tower’s collapse, a fire broke out in a grass field and spread across two to three blocks, according to firefighters. The accident only impacted one structure on the ground: the radio tower.
Chief Diaz stated that the families of the dead had not yet been notified.
Sam Elsaadi was eating dinner on the patio of a restaurant in the Greater East End area when he saw the skyscraper collapse. “I heard something like fireworks, and when I looked up, I saw the tower flame out and completely crumble,” Mr. Elsaadi, 42, said in a phone interview on Sunday night.
He then drove a few streets to the accident site, where he found pieces of the tower spread on the ground and the grass on fire. Shortly later, local firefighters and police came on the site.
Houston council member Mario Castillo said in a message on X that he was “monitoring the helicopter crash,” stressing that it was a “private touring helicopter,” not one owned by the Houston Police Department.
Reference:
Texas Helicopter Crash: 4 Killed After Chopper Collides With Houston Radio Tower, Bursts into Flames