Houston police unveil new helicopter dedicated to fallen flight officer Knox

Houston police unveiled Wednesday its latest addition to its aging helicopter fleet: an Airbus H125 dedicated to fallen Tactical Flight Officer Jason Knox.

The aircraft, obtained through a $7.5 million grant through the Texas Department of Public Safety, was delivered to the Houston Police Department’s Air Support Division in December with the tail number N2374F to incorporate Knox’s badge. Knox, the son of Houston City Council Member Mike Knox, died May 2, 2020, in an on-duty helicopter crash at a Greenspoint-area apartment complex.

Police officials said the helicopter will not be a replacement for the crashed MD Helicopter but instead stemmed from a grant that had been in the works for at least four years.

Police parked the helicopter — complete with an Oilers-blue pinstripe on the body — on a landing pad at William P. Hobby Airport next to where a portion of Knox’s ashes was scattered. Knox’s family, including his parents and widow Keira Knox, joined the Air Division for the dedication ceremony.

The blue paint pays tribute to Knox’s love for fixing old police cars. The officer, who joined HPD in 2011, had a penchant for replicating what police — such as his father, a retired HPD officer — once used to patrol Houston streets in the 1990s and before.

“Jason would get a kick out of all this attention,” the elder Knox said.

The new bird has already taken flight over Houston on multiple occasions, according to flight records.

Bradley Mark — one of three pilots trained to fly the new Airbus — called the new aircraft the “golden standard” for law enforcement aviation. Sixteen more officers will be trained in March, he said.

“It’s a complex aircraft, but its stable platform is confi

dence-inspiring,” Mark said.

Pilots will have better control over the tail rotor and are less likely to spin out of control, Mark continued, like what happened in the fatal crash.

Mark remembered Knox as charismatic. The two worked together on the night shift. He fondly recalled walking off meals with Knox on a nearby runway in between flights.

Chief Art Acevedo said the new aircraft is better suited for Houston’s sweltering weather — which can impact a helicopter’s lift. Its rollout for patrol will be limited because other helicopters in the fleet are still airworthy, he said.

The Airbus will be better suited for search and rescue operations, firefighting and security, he continued.

“We want to try to save some of the flight hours for the other capabilities that it has,” Acevedo said.

The police department has lost two aircraft to crashes in the past two years. The helicopter from the first crash in July 2019 — in which Knox was also a passenger — remains in disrepair and the department is determining whether it will be too costly to fix.

Acevedo grounded the HPD fleet for at least four weeks in response to Knox’s death. By the start of the George Floyd protests in late May, the police helicopters were back in the air.

The fatal crash happened as Knox and pilot Chase Cormier were wrapping up an aerial search for a possible drowning — none was found — in a bayou. The aircraft spiraled out of control and crashed into an apartment clubhouse.

Cormier was critically injured and he has since retired for medical reasons, Houston Police Officers’ Union President Doug Griffith said.

Days after the crash, a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board offered few answers as to why the aircraft went down.

Police have not disclosed the results of their internal investigation into the crash. Acevedo said their review is contingent on the finalized NTSB findings — which could take another year. The pandemic has slowed the independent agency’s investigation into the crash, the chief said.

Meanwhile, an internal review of safety protocols within the air division found nothing “problematic,” Acevedo said.

Police ruled out the possibility that “hostile action” was a factor behind the crash. Investigators accused Josue Trajedo-Claros of firing a gun at a Department of Public Safety helicopter whose pilots responded to the HPD wreckage.

Trajedo-Claros remains jailed on two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant and tampering with evidence — all felony charges.

Photos by Brett Coomer / Staff photographer Police Chief Art Acevedo embraces Keira Knox during Wednesday’s ceremony for the department’s newest helicopter, dedicated to her husband, fallen Tactical Flight Officer Jason Knox. The helicopter incorporates Knox’s badge number of 2374.

Some of Knox’s ashes are buried next to HPD’s flight operations helipad.

Brett Coomer / Staff photographer Keira Knox kneels next to the spot on the airfield where some of the ashes of her husband, fallen Tactical Flight Officer Jason Knox, are buried. Jason Knox was honored by HPD as it dedicated the department’s newest helicopter in his name. The Airbus helicopter has an Oilers-blue pinstripe on the body — a nod to Knox’s love of fixing old police cars. Knox died on May 2, 2020, while on duty.