Newlyweds killed in helicopter crash hours after wedding

Texas: A newlywed couple was killed hours after their wedding ceremony when a helicopter taking them from the wedding reception to an airport to depart on their honeymoon crashed minutes after take off.

Will Byler and Bailee Ackerman Byler were married on Saturday night at a ranch in Uvalde, about 130 kilometres west of San Antonio.

The helicopter carrying the 24-year-old newlyweds from the reception crashed into a hillside 5 to 10 minutes after takeoff from the ranch late on Saturday or early Sunday, local time, shattering the aircraft and killing the couple and the pilot, a federal official said.

Wreckage from the crash was strewn across the rocky hillside.

The helicopter was en route to a San Antonio airport, from where the couple planned to fly to their honeymoon destination, Uvalde County Justice of the Peace Steve Kennedy told the San Antonio Express-News.

Kennedy said the helicopter was owned by William Byler's father but was being flown by 76-year-old Gerald Douglas Lawrence, who had piloted the craft for about 20 years and served as a pilot during the Vietnam war.

The Houstonian student newspaper reports that the newlyweds were seniors at Sam Houston State University.

Craig Hatch, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said it's too early to determine what caused the crash but that a preliminary NTSB report will be issued in about two weeks.

AAP

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