One person was killed and two others were critically injured on Wednesday morning, November 4, when a Robinson R44 II helicopter carrying three people crashed into Biscayne Bay near Key Biscayne, Florida, the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board said. The helicopter went down in the water near Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, off the southern tip of Key Biscayne, roughly two miles offshore.

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Southeast / NTSB via USA TODAY Network, Nov. 4, 2026

The Federal Aviation Administration put the crash at about 11:15 a.m. in the water east of Miami Executive Airport. Flight-tracking data reported by local outlets showed the helicopter had taken off from North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines at about 10:48 a.m. and flown toward Biscayne Bay, with a sudden loss of altitude recorded at about 11:17 a.m. The Coast Guard said it and partner agencies responded to reports of the downed aircraft at about 11:30 a.m.

3people aboard the Robinson R44 II
1person confirmed dead
2survivors taken as trauma-alert patients
11:15 a.m.FAA time of the crash, Nov. 4

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue answered the first reports of a crash near Bill Baggs State Park. Three patients were reported in total: City of Miami Fire Rescue and Key Biscayne Fire Rescue ground units carried the two surviving adult trauma-alert patients to a designated landing zone, where a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Air Rescue helicopter flew them to the region's main trauma center — identified in local reporting as Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Both survivors were described in aviation reporting as critically injured.

A Photography Flight Over the Bay

The flight was not carrying passengers on a tour. “Preliminary information indicates it was a photography flight,” NTSB spokesperson Jennifer Gabris said, and local reporting described the helicopter as chartered to film boats on the water. Flight-tracking records cited by NBC affiliates linked the aircraft to an operator named Global Aerials. All three people aboard were adult men, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office.

Source: NTSB spokesperson Jennifer Gabris via Palm Beach Post / USA TODAY Network, Nov. 4, 2026

Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz briefed reporters on the rescue on Wednesday afternoon. By Wednesday night, officials had not publicly released the names of the person who died or of the two survivors, saying families were still being notified, and no cause for the crash had been announced.

Weather Is Part of the Inquiry — Not Yet an Answer

CNN reported thunderstorms, with lightning and light rain, in the area around the time of the crash. Investigators have NOT named weather — or anything else — as the cause. The NTSB routinely examines weather, the aircraft's records, the pilot's experience and flight-track data before reaching any conclusion, and officials cautioned that the investigation is at an early stage.

The Aircraft: A Workhorse of Small Aviation

The Robinson R44 II is a four-seat, single-engine piston helicopter built by Robinson Helicopter Company of Torrance, California. It is one of the most widely used small helicopters in the world, flown every day for flight training, aerial photography, tours and private transport — which is why an R44 accident draws attention far beyond one flight: thousands of similar aircraft make similar low-altitude flights over water and cities across the United States.

Second Fatal Air Crash in South Florida in Four Days

Wednesday's crash was the second fatal aviation incident in South Florida in less than a week. On Sunday, November 1, a Learjet 60 business jet crashed near Greenacres in Palm Beach County, killing all nine people aboard — a disaster the NTSB is also investigating, and which investigators say involved the jet breaking up in flight. Officials have given no indication the two accidents are connected in any way; they are separate investigations, run in parallel by the same federal agency.

What Happens Next

The NTSB is leading the investigation, with the FAA taking part and the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office running its own inquiry. Investigators are expected to recover and examine the wreckage from the bay, review maintenance and flight records, and reconstruct the flight's final minutes from tracking data. The NTSB typically publishes a preliminary report within a few weeks; a final determination of probable cause usually takes a year or more. The dead man's name is expected to be released once his family has been notified, and the hospital has not issued a public update on the two survivors' conditions.