Helicopter crash kills retired Army pilot in Texas. ‘Uncle Jason won’t be coming home’

Officials are investigating after a retired Army pilot died in a helicopter crash in rural East Texas.

The pilot, who was later identified as 51-year-old Jackson, Mississippi, man Jason Wimberly, crashed in a field near the town of Newton at about 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 23, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

The helicopter was “used for agricultural services,” according to DPS.

Wimberly was approaching a fuel truck when, “for unknown reasons,” the helicopter crashed, officials said. Wimberly was killed, and a person on the ground beside the truck was hit by the helicopter’s landing skids and taken to a hospital with injuries, according to officials.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are both investigating.

“Jason was known for his warm spirit and an infectious smile that could light up any room,” the pilot’s brother, Michael Wimberly, said in an Aug. 26 Facebook post. “He never met a stranger, and his circle of friends was as vast as the skies he loved to soar.”

He joined the Army after college and piloted a Blackhawk helicopter during a tour in Iraq, family said. But even after his return from overseas, he kept doing “what he loved most,” flying, by getting a job as a crop duster.

Wimberly had a “deep sense of duty and adventure,” his brother said, but also a wild side.

“The wild streak caught up with him,” he said. “I am sad to say that my parent’s son, my brother, and our beloved Uncle Jason won’t be coming home.”

Wimberly is survived by his parents, siblings, and “numerous nieces and nephews who adored him.”

Newton is a roughly 150-mile drive northeast from Houston.

This story was originally published August 28, 2024 at 11:56 AM with the headline "Helicopter crash kills retired Army pilot in Texas. ‘Uncle Jason won’t be coming home’."