Four hurt in helicopter crash near Pearland

06:03 PM CDT on Friday, May 28, 2004

From 11 Janice Williamson and KHOU News Staff Reports

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BRAZORIA COUNTY -- Four people were injured when a helicopter crashed near Pearland Regional Airport in Galveston County Friday morning.

Two of the injured were rushed by Life Flight helicopters to Memorial Hermann Hospital. They are identified as the pilot, Ray Murphy and passenger Mark Miller of Seabrook.

Two others went to Hermann by ambulance. They are identified as Donald Turner and Jennifer Schapper of Alvin. All have now been released.

AIR 11 Six people were on board the Twinstar helicopter but two weren't hurt.

The last two passengers, Drent Sarault and Gina Monitaita were not seriously injured and didn't require medical treatment.

The Twinstar chopper was said to be on a maintenance flight when it went down. Within minutes of the crash, passengers were on a cell phone calling for help.

On the 911 tape Mark Miller told the operator: "One person is bleeding pretty bad. The rest are walking away from the helicopter right now."

A dispatcher with the Friendswood FIre Department tried to determine the location of the downed helicopter.

"Do you see any other landmarks we can go by?," She asked.

"No ma'am I see cows. We're in the middle of a field here somewhere." Miller responds.

The Eurocopter went down near the Galveston County-Brazoria County line during a maintenance flight. Six people were on board. The crash site was eventually spotted from the air by the crew of Memorial Hermann's Lifeflight helicopter.

"What type of injuries do you have?" the emergency dispatcher asks. "Mainly head trauma I believe." Miller answered.

"You or somebody else?,"asked the dispatcher.

"Me and the pilot as well," Miller replied.

The Eurocopter is owned by a subsidiary of Landry's Restaurants. CEO Tilman Fertitta told us initially he thought the helicopter may have clipped a power line. Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration tell,us, however, they don't know what caused the crash. They also say it's unusual to have six people on board for a maintenance check.

The first report on the crash from the National Transportation Safety Board should come sometime next week. It will take months for the final results of the investigation.