UVALDE — A helicopter crash outside Uvalde County claimed the lives of two newlyweds and a pilot.
The Houstonian, the student-run newspaper of Sam Houston State University, confirmed that Will Byler and Bailee Ackerman Byler were killed when the helicopter departing their wedding crashed north of Uvalde Saturday.
The two were both seniors at Sam Houston State, The Houstonian confirmed.
The pilot of the helicopter, Gerald Green Lawrence, 76, was also killed in the crash, his family confirmed. He was a captain in the U.S. Army and was a veteran of the Vietnam War.
His family says he had just gotten married in April. He leaves behind his wife, two daughters, three stepdaughters and two grandchildren, one of which is set to be born Monday.
It is with deepest sadness that we announce the tragic passing of two Bearkats Will Byler (Agriculture Engineering...
Uvalde Police received a call from an aviation monitoring center around midnight Saturday notifying them of a possible down aircraft north of Uvalde County.
Several agencies, including Texas DPS troopers, Game Wardens, Border Patrol, and the Uvalde Fire Department aided police in their search for the aircraft. Police say that shortly after sunrise Sunday, the accident was located.
DPS and the Federal Aviation Administration continue to investigate the scene. The NTSB says the incident involved a Bell 206B—a two-bladed, twin-engine chopper.