Transportation Safety Board Releases First Report on Fatal Houston Helicopter Crash – Houston Public Media

A National Transportation Safety Board report on an Oct. 20 helicopter crash details the moment the plane hit a 1,000-foot radio tower in Houston's East End, killing four people.

Minutes before the crash, the Robinson R44 helicopter took off from Ellington Airport in southeast Houston with pilots Samantha Grandbouche, Julio Cesar Lerma, Marie Alonso and Dylon Lerma on board. That evening at around 7:42 p.m., the family of three set off on a nighttime sightseeing tour that would take them around the city center.

Grandbouche established communication with air traffic controllers, who a few minutes later issued a traffic alert about another corporate tour helicopter in the area. According to the report, the pilot recognized that traffic was in sight.

“The air traffic controller requested the accident pilot to maintain visual distance from traffic and the pilot was reading the instructions when the radio transmission abruptly ended,” the report said. “No further communications were received from the accident helicopter.”

All four people on board the helicopter died in the crash.

The radio tower was equipped with flashing beacons. Surveillance video footage near the crash shows the helicopter hitting the tower directly, which appeared to have lights on the image. The lower beacon, located about 100 meters above the surface of the tower, was not visible on video surveillance.

RELATED: Four people died after a helicopter crashed into a radio tower in Houston's East End Sunday evening

“When it hit the radio tower, an explosion occurred and the helicopter fell to the ground,” the report said. “The radio tower crashed onto the helicopter and a post-impact fire destroyed the helicopter.”

The helicopter crashed into the tower about 100 feet above the top of the tower.

The report released Thursday does not say why the crash occurred, only the moments leading up to the impact.

According to the report, on October 7, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a letter of approval to operator National Helicopter Solutions LLC to conduct a commercial tour.

Debris from the crash – fragmented pieces of Plexiglas, main rotor blades, console components, cushions, flight controls and landing gear – was spread over a quarter mile on the ground. The wreckage was retained for examination.

After the accident, Lt. Jonathan French of the Houston Police Department told reporters there were no reports of damage to surrounding homes, but some vehicles appeared to have minor damage.

“Everyone here is grateful,” French said. “All of our officers are grateful. …This could have been much worse. This is a big scene, as I mentioned before, the potential could have been much worse. And we are grateful for that, but we want to keep that.” We are currently thinking about our families and our victims. This is a terrible tragedy.