One Dead and Two Critically Injured After a Helicopter Crashed During a Photography Flight

One person has been killed while two others were injured after a helicopter crashed during a photography flight in Miami, Florida.

As ABC News reports, three people were aboard the flight. Passengers were reportedly filming boats on the water when the chartered helicopter crashed into Biscayne Bay, just south of downtown Miami.

“Preliminary information indicates it was a photography flight,” the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports. NBC 6 South Florida reports that the helicopter is owned by Global Aerials, a Miami-area aerial media services company, and took off from North Perry Airport, just north of Miami.

One man died as a result of the crash, despite the heroic efforts of a good Samaritan who was providing life-saving assistance, according to Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz. The same good Samaritan also sent a mayday call to authorities and may have saved the lives of the other two passengers due to their quick thinking.

The two other men who were aboard the crashed helicopter were rescued from the water and transported by air to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s trauma center, where they are both in critical but stable condition. Authorities say that their conditions after being removed from the water were so severe they required life-flight transportation.

Authorities do not yet know the cause of the crash, although it is under investigation. Heavy storms have hit the area over the last few days, but authorities cannot yet say whether weather conditions contributed to the crash. The helicopter had been flying south in the bay before looping back north shortly prior to crashing.

The Robinson R44 helicopter crashed at around 11:15 AM ET. Rescue workers from various local agencies, the Coast Guard, and even Customs and Border Protection (CBP) all responded to the crash scene, NBC News reports.

Television news video, like the one seen above from NBC 6 South Florida, shows the helicopter upside down in the water, surrounded by rescue personnel.

Less than two months ago, aerial photographer and reporter Eliana Moreno died after an NBC Los Angeles helicopter crashed in L.A. suburbs while the news crew was filming a fatal bus collision scene. Alongside Moreno, the helicopter pilot, George Marciniw, and a person on the ground, Edy Gutiérrez Mejia, who was visiting Los Angeles from Guatemala, also perished.

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Image creditsNBC News