A Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter patrolling the state’s border with Mexico crashed Thursday night, an agency spokesperson said.
The single-engine helicopter with pilot and co-pilot on board crashed around 7:20 p.m. Thursday in Kinney County after “a complete loss of power,” department spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez said on social media X. .
The co-pilot suffered a minor hand injury and the helicopter was severely damaged, Olivarez said.
The official did not provide information about the pilot and has not yet responded to a message sent Friday requesting more details.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were notified of the accident, Olivarez added.
Neither agency responded to messages seeking comment Friday.
Olivarez said the helicopter was conducting a border patrol flight as part of Operation Lone Star, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s nearly $10 billion border mission that has tested the federal government’s authority over border control. immigration.
The mission includes arresting those entering the state without legal authorization on charges of trespassing, transporting immigrants on buses to Democratic-led cities, installing barbed wire on the border and buoy barriers on the vast river that divides to the United States with Mexico.
Abbott also flew 120 immigrants to Chicago, in an escalation of his busing operation.
The crash occurred in rural Kinney County, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of the Texas-Mexico border and about 120 miles (193 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio.
Source: With information from AP
