Helicopter Tower Collision Takes Four Lives

CNN reported that four people including a child were killed in the accident in Houston’s Second Ward that caused a fiery explosion and toppled the structure near Engelke Street and North Ennis Street just before 8 p.m. Sunday.

CNN affiliate KTRK  quoted the city police chief confirming the deaths. CNN said the aircraft appears to have departed the Ellington Airport south of the crash site but its destination was unclear.

FCC records indicate that SBA Towers owns the structure, which was almost 1,000 feet. Radio World reached out to SBA to request comment. Univision had owned it until recently; a senior spokesperson for Univision told Radio World it had been sold along with several other towers in September.

Local television meteorologist Pat Cavlin, a pilot, posted on social media that a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) had been filed for this tower reporting that its lights were not operable; that post is shown below. (A NOTAM is a notice containing information essential to personnel concerned with flight operations but not known far enough in advance to be publicized by other means. It states the abnormal status of a component of the airspace system. Current rules for obstruction marking and lighting are available in an FAA circular here.)

But Cavlin also shared a security camera video from another person, shown here at bottom, that seemed to show that at least the top light was working.