The crash of two helicopters on US beaches on Saturday (19) left one person dead and at least four injured, according to local police information.
The first accident occurred on a crowded beach in Miami Beach, Florida, around 1:10 pm (3:10 pm in Brasília). The helicopter crashed into the sea, close to bathers. The three crew members were transported to the hospital, two of them with back injuries and the third in stable condition, according to the municipal police. twitter.
To the American network NBC, a spokesman for the Fire Department said that if the fall had occurred 50 meters closer to the strip of land, the accident would have left mass casualties.
The aircraft was a Robinson R44 model, one of the best-selling civil helicopters in the world and which, according to the Los Angeles Times, has a higher fatal accident rate than the others.
Also on Saturday at 6:30 pm (23:30 GMT), a police helicopter responding to a call crashed on a beach in Huntington Beach, California. Officer Nicholas Vella, a veteran of the force, died, and another officer was injured and is in stable condition, the local office said. Vella, according to police, had worked as a police officer for 14 years and leaves a wife and daughter.
During a press conference the same evening, Huntington Beach Police Chief Eric Parra said the aircraft had crashed for reasons that are still unknown, but that an investigation is already underway and that police helicopters undergo periodic review.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has informed local media that it has entered the investigation of the accidents with the National Transportation Safety Board.
The poor safety of helicopter flights gained greater attention in the US after Kobe Bryant, considered one of the greatest basketball players in history, and one of his daughters, Gianna, died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, in January 2020. .
Incidents involving helicopters killed at least 428 people between 2009 and 2018, according to data compiled by the National Transportation Safety Board at the request of The Washington Post.
