- Two people were rescued from the crash site of the helicopter
- While the male passed away, the female managed to survive the crash
- Florida police are investigating the man’s death
Emergency workers in South Florida on Wednesday rescued two people, one who later died, from a canal near Miami Executive Airport in Florida after their helicopter crashed.
The helicopter, a Hughes 369 aircraft, was carrying two people from Fort Myers when it crashed into a canal about three miles west of the airport at around 1pm, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
Aerial video footage showed divers from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue searching the canal near 187th Avenue and SW 122nd Street.
The two people were sent to local hospitals in Miami, where one was in serious condition and the other had non-life-threatening injuries, CBS News Miami reported.
‘Unfortunately, the male succumbed to his injuries. The female is expected to survive,’ Miami-Dade Police Department Detective Alvaro Zabaleta told WSVN-TV.
Aerial video footage showed divers from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue searching the canal
According to investigators, witnesses said they saw what appeared to be a helicopter that was spinning and falling
Officials did not identify the victims or say how they knew each other. The NTSB will identify the pilot of the aircraft.
‘It was flying very low. That´s how initially I realised something was happening,’ local resident Vivian Alvarez said, adding: ‘Soon thereafter, there were like five helicopters.’
Zabaleta said that this report matched several calls to 911: ‘The original calls that came in from 911 were stating that they saw what appeared to be a helicopter spinning and falling. That’s when units immediately responded to the scene.’
Emergency responders were told by witnesses that the woman in the helicopter managed to swim her way to safety, though divers had to go into the water to find the man.
While he was pulled from the wreckage, and efforts were made to revive him, he succumbed to his injuries.
It is not currently known how the chopper crashed. Police said that it is currently lodged deep in the canal, and it may take some time for crews to lift it out of the canal.
‘It’s deep enough that if you approach the embankment you’re not able to see the aircraft at all. So it appears to be pretty deep,’ Zabaleta said.
The federal aviation agency said it was opening an investigation, while the Miami-Dade Police Department Homicide bureau is conducting a probe into the death.
