A man has died and a woman has been hospitalized after their helicopter spun out of control and crashed into a canal in Florida.
Authorities were called at around 1pm to the scene of the crash, which took place a few miles west of Miami Executive Airport.
Witnesses described seeing the aircraft “spinning and falling”, according to Miami-Dade Police Spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta.
“We just saw a chopper very low, directly behind where it happened,” Vivian Alvarez, who witnessed the incident, told CBS News.
A woman reportedly emerged from the canal shortly after the crash but told witnesses that there was another person still in the water.
A woman who was involved in the crash survived and was taken away in an ambulance— (CBS News Miami)
Divers recovered the man but despite attempts to resuscitate him, he died. The woman is expected to survive.
Footage from CBS News showed the woman looking at her phone while on a stretcher in the aftermath of the crash.
The wreckage of the helicopter was not visible from the air due to the depth of the canal.
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration is launching an investigation in the helicopter crash. Miami-Dade police will investigate the death.
The names of the individuals involved in the crash have not been released.
