Houston, TX - A devastating helicopter crash shook Houston's Second Ward in the East End Sunday evening. At approximately 7:54 p.m., the aircraft struck a radio tower at Engelke Street and Ennis Street before plummeting to the ground. a private touring helicopter.
Eyewitness videos captured the harrowing moment, showing a massive fireball erupting as the radio tower collapsed, with debris raining down and exploding upon impact. The surrounding area was quickly engulfed in flames, with four fatalities including one child.
According to flight radar 24, the helicopter was a privately owned touring aircraft registered as N881KE, a Robinson R44 Raven II, and made five flights on Sunday afternoon, with the first taking off from Hobby Airport at 12:34pm and landing at Ellington Field at 12:46. The second flight doesn’t show a time of takeoff but does show the arrival back at Ellington at 5:39pm. This flight took a loop from Ellington towards downtown, back around Hwy 288, to the south Beltway and back to Ellington. The third flight on Sunday shows a takeoff from Ellington at around 5:50pm and a trip that included a loop around the Webster, Clear Lake, Nassau Bay, and Sea Brook areas before returning at 6:02pm.
The fourth flight shows a takeoff at 6:48pm, taking another loop almost identical to the second flight. The helicopter returned to Ellington at 7:12pm. Then there was the fatal fifth flight of the day, which shows the helicopter taking off at 7:44, almost one hour after sunset and proceeding on a flight pattern once again towards downtown. Based on the previous flights, it might have been on the same loop flight around the city.
An FAA investigation is underway.
