One Dead, Four Injured In Helicopter Crash At Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) – An Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed Monday in a field on the campus of Texas A&M University, killing one person and injuring four others aboard.

The Army UH-60 helicopter crashed Monday afternoon during training exercises near the Corps of Cadets field on the school’s College Station campus, about 100 miles northwest of Houston. No one on the ground and no students were hurt.

A crew of four from the Army National Guard and an Army lieutenant assigned to the school’s ROTC unit were the only ones aboard the Black Hawk, Texas A&M spokesman Lane Stephenson said.

Three men were in critical condition at College Station Medical Center, spokeswoman Melissa Purl said.

Another crash victim was at St. Joseph Regional Health Center in Bryan, a spokesman said. That person’s condition wasn’t immediately known.

Officials did not release the names of the dead and injured.

Witnesses told the Bryan-College Station Eagle they saw five Black Hawk helicopters taking off and landing throughout the day.

Scott Walker said one of two helicopters he watched lift off seemed to lose control and start spinning, Walker said.

“All of a sudden he dropped straight back down into the ground,” Walker told the newspaper.

The helicopter, along with 190 cadets in the university’s Corps of Cadets, the school’s own officer training unit, were participating in the ROTC Winter Field Training Exercises.

Students are on winter break, with classes set to resume Jan. 20.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)