Man dies, woman ‘expected to survive’ after helicopter crashes into a canal near Miami

MIAMI (AP) — Emergency workers in South Florida on Wednesday rescued two people, including one who later died, from a canal after their helicopter crashed.

The helicopter, a Hughes 369 aircraft, was carrying two people from Fort Myers when it crashed into a canal about 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) west of Miami Executive Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

Aerial video footage showed divers from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue searching the canal. 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.

Officials did not identify the victims or say how they knew each other. The NTSB will identify the pilot of the aircraft.

According to investigators, witnesses said they saw what appeared to be a helicopter that was spinning and falling, Zabaleta said.

“It was flying very low. That’s how initially I realized something was happening,” local resident Vivian Alvarez said.

The federal aviation agency said it was opening an investigation and the Miami-Dade Police Department Homicide bureau is conducting a probe into the death.