Man killed, woman hurt after helicopter crashes into SW Miami-Dade canal

Author: JUSTIN KASE, JOHN MACLAUCHLAN, HUNTER GEISEL (CBS News)
Published: Updated:
helicopter
2 hospitalized after Fort Myers helicopter crashes into Southwest Miami-Dade canal. CREDIT: CBS Miami

A man was killed and a woman was hurt after the helicopter they were in crashed in a southwest Miami-Dade canal Wednesday afternoon, prompting a frantic effort to find them and pull them from the water, police said.

The two victims were rushed to a local hospital after the crash, which occurred shortly after 1 p.m., according to police. Investigators did not immediately identify the two victims or say if they were related.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been called in along with the Federal Aviation Administration to determine why the helicopter crashed, a police spokesman said during a news conference at the site.

Over 10 Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to reports of a helicopter in a canal near SW 187th Avenue and SW 122nd Street in the Redland. 

“The witnesses were stating that they saw what appeared to be a helicopter that was spinning and a falling,” said Alvaro Zabaleta, spokesman of the Miami-Dade Police.

Upon arrival, divers were sent into the canal while Air Rescue South conducted an aerial search of the area.

MDFR told CBS News Miami that two people were taken out of the water and transported by ground units to a local hospital. 

Police originally told CBS News Miami that the helicopter originated out of Fort Myers with a destination in Tamiami. Investigators later said they were not sure where the helicopter originated from before it crashed.

Police said when they arrived, they were unable to find a wreckage scene until the woman was seen emerging from the canal and pointed divers to where the copter crash landed.

“That’s when the female advised (the chopper) was in the water,” the police spokesman said. “And there was still an additional male.”

Police said visibility was very low in the water so divers were not immediately sure where the debris field was at first.

Michael den Hartog, a pilot and instructor, said the impact can be violent when the rotor blades hit land or water.

“The biggest problem is the aircraft breaking up from the impact of water because water when you hit it is like what a belly flop is like concrete,” said Hartog.

A preliminary FAA report and reclaiming the submerged helicopter is possible Thursday.

WINK News contributed to this article.

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