The Virginia State Police helicopter that crashed and killed two troopers who had been monitoring protests in Charlottesville on Saturday didn’t make a distress call before descending into trees, federal investigators said.
USA Today reports that whatever led to the crash wasn’t obvious. The Bell 407 helicopter took off at 3:54 p.m. and flew over the downtown area, to contribute to a continuous video feed of protesters below from 4:04 p.m. until 4:42 p.m., according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
At that point, the helicopter left the scene to support the motorcade carrying Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, but it soon crashed approximately two minutes into that flight path.
State police and the National Transportation Safety Board will study the wreckage and interview witnesses to determine why the helicopter crashed.
