3 parks workers killed in air crash

Three Texas Parks and Wildlife employees died Saturday in a helicopter crash in West Texas as they surveyed the landscape for desert bighorn sheep, the state agency said.

The trio were flying over Black Gap Wildlife Management Area, just northwest of Big Bend National Park, when the aircraft crashed. The pilot, who was a private contractor for the state agency, was taken to El Paso for medical treatment.

The agency identified the victims Sunday morning as Dewey Stockbridge, a wildlife biologist from Mason (Mason County); Brandon White, a fish and wildlife technician from Spur (Dickens County); and Dr. Bob Dittmar, a state wildlife veterinarian in Kerrville.

“Wildlife conservation in Texas lost three of its finest as they so honorably and dutifully carried out their calling to help survey, monitor and protect the bighorns of their beloved west Texas mountains,” Carter Smith, executive director of Texas Parks and Wildlife, said in a statement.

Gov. Greg Abbott offered condolences to the families of those killed.

“Our hearts ache today for those who died in this tragic accident,” he said in a statement. “I ask all Texans to keep these families in their thoughts and prayers.”

The Texas Buck Registry called Stockbridge and Dittmar personal friends in a post on its Facebook page.

“They will be greatly missed, not only because of the top notch work they did in service of Texas wildlife, but also because of the men they were and the integrity

they carried. God speed to both of these men, and the others involved in the crash,” the statement said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday it was investigating the crash of a Bell 206B helicopter, but was “not traveling to the scene of the crash at this time.”

The Texas Department of Public Safety, Federal Aviation Administration and Texas Game Wardens are also looking into the incident.