Old
Archived

3 killed in helicopter crash along Rio Grande

Two National Guard members and a U.S. Border Patrol agent died in the crash in Starr County Friday afternoon.

Two National Guard members and a U.S. Border Patrol agent died in the crash in Starr County Friday afternoon.

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.


Editor: I don’t have any commentary here, I just want to share the news from the Texas Tribune.

A helicopter carrying a Border Patrol agent and three National Guard members crashed along the U.S.-Mexico border in South Texas on Friday afternoon, killing three and badly injuring a fourth person.

Two victims were identified Sunday as members of the New York State National Guard. John Grassia III, 30, was a chief warrant officer and New York State trooper, and Casey Frankoski, 28, was a National Guard chief warrant officer. U.S. Border Patrol agent Chris Luna also died, federal officials confirmed.

The Department of Defense Joint Task Force North said in a statement that a fourth soldier was injured in the crash that occurred just before 3 p.m. on Friday near Rio Grande City. That soldier, who was identified by The Times Union as Jacob Pratt, was badly injured and remains hospitalized, according to a Sunday press release from the New York Army National Guard.

The Fort Bliss-based agency said that the UH-72 Lakota helicopter was conducting operations as part of the federal Southwest border support mission when it went down. On Friday evening, the Starr County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that its deputies were assisting with a downed helicopter on the east side of the county.

The Department of Defense said the helicopter was not associated with Operation Lone Star, the state’s border enforcement mission that is utilizing National Guard members. The agents had been deployed to Texas in October 2023 to support a federal military mission.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately answer questions sent by The Texas Tribune. In a statement on Sunday, the agency said they were heartbroken by the crash.

“We will forever honor Chris’s service, and we will never forget his and family’s tremendous sacrifice,” the statement said.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas also released a statement on Sunday.

“Every single day, our Border Patrol Agents place themselves in harm’s way so that the rest of us can be safe and secure,” Mayorkas said. “My thoughts, and the deepest condolences of our Department, are with Agent Luna’s family, loved ones, and colleagues, and with those of the National Guardsmen who lost their lives. We hope for the injured service member’s swift recovery, and hold our National Guard colleagues and their families in our thoughts as well.”

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Disclosure: Facebook has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.


We can’t wait to welcome you to downtown Austin Sept. 5-7 for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival! Join us at Texas’ breakout politics and policy event as we dig into the 2024 elections, state and national politics, the state of democracy, and so much more. When tickets go on sale this spring, Tribune members will save big. Donate to join or renew today.

This article in this post was originally published on the Texas Tribune website and parts of it are republished here, with permission under a Creative Commons license.

 

William Melhado is an Austin-based journalist and a 2022-23 Poynter-Koch media and journalism fellow. Originally from Boulder, Colorado, William graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in chemistry and taught science at a public high school in the…

Related Posts

0 Shares
Tweet
Share
Pin
Share