MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL, Nov. 5, 2026 — A commercial helicopter filming boats crashed into Biscayne Bay off Key Biscayne on Wednesday, killing one adult man and critically injuring two others, the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office said.

According to an MDSO news release posted Nov. 4, deputies received a mayday about a helicopter down in the water off Nixon Beach at about 11:30 a.m. MDSO Marine Patrol units found a Good Samaritan on a boat giving CPR to one adult male victim. Deputies took over lifesaving efforts and brought that man to the dock at No Name Harbor. City of Miami Fire Rescue arrived, and the man was pronounced dead at the scene despite those efforts, MDSO said.

While deputies worked on that victim, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations located two other injured adult men from the helicopter and brought them to the same dock. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue airlifted both to a local hospital in critical but stable condition, the sheriff's office said.

What investigators say so far

MDSO's preliminary investigation found that the commercial helicopter was filming boats as they headed south. The cause of the crash is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, MDSO said. MDSO Homicide Bureau detectives have the death investigation.

The sheriff's office listed the case as PD261104-310292 and said all three people on board were adult men. Names weren't released in the MDSO release. Launchpad isn't naming them.

The Associated Press reported that the aircraft was a Robinson R44 II that had taken off from North Perry Airport on a chartered aerial-photography flight, and that one man died while two others were hurt. USA Today, citing local officials, also reported one dead and two injured and said the NTSB is leading the investigation. Launchpad is relying on MDSO for the response timeline and on AP and USA Today for the aircraft type and departure airport, which MDSO's release didn't name.

Biscayne Bay response timeline

MDSO's release puts the mayday at about 11:30 a.m. and describes a chain of mutual aid that is common for bay crashes: marine patrol first on a floating victim, a federal air-and-marine crew finding the other two, and fire-rescue helicopters moving the injured to trauma care. No Name Harbor, where the victims were brought ashore, sits on the south tip of Key Biscayne and is a familiar staging point for bay incidents.

WSVN and FOX 35 Orlando also reported one dead and two injured, matching MDSO's count. Launchpad is not repeating unverified passenger identities from social media.

Who responded

MDSO thanked Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, City of Miami Fire Rescue, Key Biscayne Police, Key Biscayne Fire Rescue, CBP Air and Marine Operations and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for mutual aid.

The crash comes days after a Learjet went down in Greenacres in Palm Beach County. The NTSB is separately investigating that crash; see our story on the elevator and crater finds. The two events aren't linked in any official statement Launchpad has seen.

What's next

The NTSB and FAA will work the Biscayne Bay site and the aircraft's maintenance and flight history. MDSO detectives continue the death investigation. Launchpad will update this story when officials release the victims' names or a probable-cause finding.

Sources: Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office; Associated Press; USA Today.

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