Helicopters searching for debris from the space shuttle Columbia in East Texas were grounded today after one crashed on Thursday in the Angelina National Forest, killing two men and injuring three others.

Earlier this week, 28 helicopters and 8 fixed-wing aircraft were involved in the air search, Gay Ippolito of the United States Forest Service said.

''This is a devastating loss for all of us,'' Mr. Ippolito said, ''and it is on the minds of everyone working in the recovery effort.''

The National Transportation Safety Board sent an investigator to the remote crash site, which is about 35 miles east of Lufkin. All-terrain vehicles assisted crews trying to clear a road into the forest.