Jordanian officer among 2 killed in Texas helicopter crash

GEORGETOWN, Texas – Jordanian military officials say a 27-year-old fighter pilot from the Middle Eastern nation was one of two people killed in a helicopter crash in Texas.

The Jordanian Armed Forces said in a statement Wednesday that 1st Lt. Ahmed Ali Mohammed Khalif al-Khawaldeh died during a training trip to Texas. Several military bases in Texas provide training to foreign armed forces allied with the United States.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the helicopter struck a power line Tuesday and crashed into a field east of Georgetown, about 30 miles (48 kilometres) north of Austin.

Also killed was 58-year-old Michael Hawley of Dothan, Alabama, whom the U.S. Army said was a Brunner Aerospace employee under contract for its Security Assistance Training Management Organization.

The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation.