A helicopter pilot has died and two passengers pulled from the waters off Galveston Island after their aircraft crashed Monday evening.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Andy Kendrick said the passengers were either being taken to or from the tanker Eagle Vancouver that was about 50 miles offshore.
Kendrick said the helicopter company, Republic Helicopters of Santa Fe, just northwest of Galveston, lost contact with the pilot shortly before 8 p.m. and notified the Coast Guard.
A Galveston County sheriff's boat found the wreckage in West Bay, more than two miles from Galveston Island's Jamaica Beach.
The body of the unidentified pilot was recovered. The passengers were taken to a hospital and their conditions were not released.
Kendrick says it's not clear if the two passengers were members of the tanker crew.
