2 Houston police officers critically injured in copter crash

HOUSTON (AP) — Two Houston officers aboard a police helicopter were critically injured when the aircraft crashed at an apartment complex early Saturday, the department said.

The helicopter was carrying just a pilot and a tactical flight officer when it crashed around 2 a.m., Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said at a news conference near the scene.

“We don't have any idea why it went down at this time,” Acevedo said.

There were no injuries to anyone on the ground at the apartment complex, a masked Acevedo told reporters.

The helicopter was supposed to assist with a search for bodies in a nearby bayou, which was prompted by a tip that the police chief characterized as “probably a bogus call — we don't know."

The officers were trapped in the wreckage “for an extended period of time” before being cut out by city firefighters and flown to a hospital where they were being operated on by trauma surgeons, Acevedo said. He said they were in “pretty bad shape.”

Acevedo identified two silver linings: While the wreckage was “pretty significant,” it didn't catch fire, and the helicopter avoided striking occupied apartment buildings. It did clip the complex's clubhouse, he said. Residents of the Biscayne at Cityview complex weren't evacuated.

“Just a miracle. We got a miracle,” Acevedo said. “But we need more miracles now. We need our officers to recover”

The police department is shutting down flights until it has a chance to reassess in the coming days, and will be relying on the Texas Department of Public Safety and Harris County Sheriff's Office for flight support in the interim.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration have been notified and will be investigating, Acevedo said, while the police department conducts a parallel investigation.

The department will not release the names of the officers until their extended families are made aware, Acevedo said. He said police had picked up immediate family and taken them to the hospital, where he was headed after the press conference. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner was also aware, Acevedo said, and planned to visit the hospital later in the morning.

Acevedo noted that shots rang out across the street from the complex around 3 a.m., while police were investigating the crash. Three people were taken into custody and no injuries were reported, he said. Acevedo stressed that police had no information indicating the helicopter was taken down by hostile action.