12:09 PM CST on Monday, November 3, 2003

By Jeremy Desel / 11 News

HOUSTON -- A bizarre accident with a model helicopter killed a Houston man Sunday afternoon.

The victim was watching the radio-controlled aircraft at Tom Bass Park in southwest Harris County.

KHOU-TV The helicopter that killed the victim is fuel-powered and radio-controlled.

"They can get up to some pretty high speeds," said Sgt. Hudson with the Harris County Sheriff's Department.

Traffic was grounded after the accident as sheriff's investigators tried to figure out what happened to cause the death of 41-year-old Ronald Kyle of southwest Houston.

"He was going through some flight maneuvers with the helicopter and he turned the controls over to the student and the helicopter got away from him," said Hudson.

Kyle was an instructor.

The student, who police did not identify, owns the model involved in the incident.

KHOU-TV Some children were reportedly in the park when the accident happened and may have seen it.

Its 2-inch wide blades are made of fiberglass, but the engine spins with enough power to make them dangerous -- especially if the craft gets out of control -- which appeared to be the case Sunday.

"Came back toward the two individuals and the helicopter struck the deseased in the throat area," said Hudson.

The impact of the crash killed Kyle almost immediately. He was partially decapitated.

Investigators say the student operating the helicopter had been in one of this areas ten chapters of the Academy of Model Aeronautics for about nine months. That organization has more than 170,000 members nationwide.

We are told the student was working toward a flight certification -- but had yet to complete it.

There are designated areas for flying and for watching at the park. Both men were in the operations area at the time.