1 killed and 2 hurt in small helicopter crash off Miami, officials say
By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN
(CNN) — One person was killed and two others were injured when a small helicopter crashed late Wednesday morning off Key Biscayne, Florida, the US Coast Guard said, leaving the aircraft upside down with just its landing skids visible in the water near Miami.
Two adults were taken to a nearby trauma center, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told CNN. Their conditions and the identity of the deceased person weren’t immediately known.
“Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this sudden and devastating event,” Petty Officer Adrian Guttierez, who works on the US Coast Guard’s search and rescue team in Miami, said in a news release Wednesday.
The helicopter’s skids appear to have been equipped with yellow flotation devices that can inflate like a life vest to help keep it afloat if it lands or crashes in water, aerial images from the scene show.
The helicopter was a photography flight, the National Transportation Safety Board said, citing preliminary information. The aircraft is owned by an aerial photography company, Federal Aviation Administration records show.
The NTSB and FAA will investigate, both agencies confirmed, and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office’s homicide bureau has assumed the death investigation.
NTSB investigators are expected to arrive on scene Thursday, the agency said.
The crash follows a collision last week of two helicopters in Oregon that left three people dead and a crash the prior month of a news helicopter in Los Angeles that also killed three.
The Robinson R44 helicopter involved in Wednesday’s crash took off shortly before 11 a.m. from North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, Florida, according to the tracking site Flightradar24.
A preliminary investigation revealed the commercial helicopter was filming boats as they were heading south, the sheriff’s office said.
It made several circles near the bridge to Key Biscayne, a barrier island, before turning to the south and crashing about seven minutes later.
Several agencies responded when a mayday call came from a good Samaritan around 11:30 a.m., authorities said Wednesday.
After overhearing the call, marine agents with US Customs and Border Protection working nearby recovered two injured men from the water and transported them to a harbor for medical care, CBP and the sheriff’s Office said. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue transported both victims to a local hospital in critical but stable condition, according to the sheriff’s office.
Separately, the sheriff’s office’s marine patrol units found a good Samaritan on a boat performing CPR on an adult male victim and took over administering first aid before bringing him to the harbor, according to the office. The victim — identified by CBP as the helicopter pilot — was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.
A safety zone was then established around the crash scene.
Thunderstorms, with lightning and light rain, along with a 9-mph wind from the east were reported around that time at the nearest weather station, Miami International Airport, about 14 miles from Key Biscayne. Gusts of 20 mph were reported closer to the site.
The Robinson R44 is a very popular small helicopter, with more than 7,800 built, according to the company. Worldwide last year, 118 were involved in crashes, including 24 fatal ones, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
There were 191 helicopter crashes last year in the US, 32 of them fatal, the safety network recorded.
CNN’s Alexandra Skores, Aaron Cooper, CNN meteorologist Mary Gilbert and Dalia Faheid contributed to this report.
This has been updated with additional information.
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