TEXAS CITY — For the second time in less than a month, a low-flying military helicopter had residents scratching their heads. So too were city emergency management officials, the Texas Army National Guard and Joint Terrorism Task Force officials, who said they had no idea what the chopper was up to.
Last month, a similar-looking Chinook helicopter was conducting search and rescue equipment tests in the air space above Texas City. During that testing, the U.S. Army had at least given emergency management officials in Texas City a heads up.
Not this time, Bruce Clawson, the city’s director of homeland security, said.
“I have no idea what they are doing,” he said. “We asked, but they don’t answer to any civilian authority, so they won’t tell us anything.”
A call to the Houston office of the FBI, which coordinates the Joint Terrorism Task Force for the region also hit a dead end. A spokeswoman said agents in the Texas City office of the FBI saw the chopper and suspected it was from at Ellington Field, where some Army National Guard helicopters are based, but had no confirmation that’s where it came from.
The Joint Terrorism Task Force is often informed and disseminates information to state and local authorities of any out of the ordinary training missions or drills.
Even the Army National Guard couldn’t say for sure the helicopter was one of theirs.
“If it is one of ours it is likely a training flight,” National Guard headquarters spokeswoman Liz Cohen said. “Probably just trying to get some training hours in.”
Messages left with the Army National Guard’s office at Ellington Field in the Clear Lake area were not returned on Tuesday.
