Four killed after helicopter crashes into Houston radio tower | Houston | The Guardian

Child among victims, officials say, while crash comes days after FAA notice warned some lights on tower inoperable

A helicopter crashed Sunday after hitting a radio tower in Houston, killing four people on board, including a child, fire officials said.

Houston authorities said the aircraft, an R44 helicopter, went down just before 8pm in Houston’s Second Ward, east of the city’s downtown, after apparently taking off from Ellington Field about 15 miles away.

The identities of the victims and their ages have not yet been released.

The tower into which the helicopter crashed is near the intersection of Engelke and Ennis streets, the Houston fire department said in a post on the social media platform X.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) notice published four days before the Sunday night’s crash warned that at least some of the lights on the radio tower in question were inoperable, according to an X post from Pat Cavlin, a reporter for the Houston news outlet KHOU.

A post by X user Jay Marroquin says it contains a home security camera video that shows the moment the crash occurred. The video shows a tower with a light blinking at the top, though there do not appear to be any other lights visible. The helicopter is flying several feet under that blinking light when it strikes the tower, according to the video.

Houston city council member Mario Castillo added in a separate X post that the helicopter that crashed was used for private tours.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it would investigate the helicopter crash.

The NTSB process could take up to two years to complete, though a preliminary report with any available facts about the crash is expected within a few weeks.

Local media outlets reported a large amount of emergency personnel responded to the scene.

Police and fire officials urged residents near the crash site to call 911 if they find anything on their property that could help investigators.

The Associated Press contributed reporting