Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Helicopter crash victims in NE Harris Co. identified

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused a deadly helicopter crash in northeast Harris County yesterday afternoon that killed two people.

The crash happened a little before 4pm in the 7800 block of Miller Road #3.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the helicopter is operated by Helicopter Services, Inc. out of Hooks Airport, and it's believed it was on a photography flight.

The pilot was identified as 40-year-old Christopher Yeager and his passenger as 60-year-old Joyce Ates.

Today, investigators will be back out on the scene to try to determine why the chopper crashed.

"We will do a complete wreckage examination and we will probably remove the wreckage," NTSB investigator Tom Latson said.

Good Samaritans with whom we spoke yesterday say they were traveling on Highway 90 when they saw the chopper circling.

"I was coming down Highway 90 and I saw a (helicopter) spinning out of control," said Jose Escamilla, one of several people who tried to rescue the victims. "And at that moment, we knew it was going to crash. We pulled over."

Eyewitnesses say the helicopter was circling unusually low around Beltway 8 and Highway 90. It crashed on the property of Oilfield Pipeline Company. A small group of men parked their cars and crawled under the fence, joining workers at the business who were trying to rescue the victims in the helicopter.

Unfortunately, they say the fire that damaged the aircraft was just too much to handle. But their efforts continued even when they knew those onboard didn't make it.

"When I looked at them, I knew they were gone," said Escamilla. "I was trying to save the bodies from being burned for the families. I would want someone to do that for me."

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Yeagar and Ates died on impact. The chopper, a Robinson 22B, had left Hooks Airport and refueled in Baytown just before crashing.

Eyewitnesses believe the pilot was doing everything he could to avoid hitting the highway.

"It's lucky that it didn't on the highway. It landed in the private pipeyard. Actually, it didn't damage anything other than the helicopter itself," DPS trooper John Sampa said.

Eyewitness News reached out to Helicopter Services, Inc. but a woman who works there hung up on us.

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