Helicopter Crash Miami: On the same day, two helicopters crash yards away from beaches in California and Florida; one person is killed

A Huntington Beach police officer died and another was injured Saturday evening after the police helicopter they were in crashed in Newport Beach, Calif., just hours after another helicopter crashed on a beach in South Florida.

Nicholas Vella, 44, was identified as the deceased officer by Huntington Beach Police Chief Eric Parra. Vella was brought to a trauma facility but died, according to Parra, who spoke during a press conference. Another cop was in good health.

Vella had worked with the police force for 14 years, according to the tweet, and he leaves behind a wife and a kid.

The Huntington Beach Police Department announced Saturday evening that one of its helicopters had “crash landed,” and video from the scene showed the chopper crashing in the ocean near the beach. The police were on their way to react to a “disturbance fight report,” according to Parra.

Authorities said earlier Saturday that a helicopter crashed into the ocean yards away from a packed Florida beach, injuring two passengers.

When the chopper dropped into the sea, it was surrounded by sunbathers and swimmers on Miami Beach’s South Beach.

According to the Miami Beach Police Department, which released the footage on Twitter, two of the persons on the helicopter were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami in “stable condition.” A third person received minor injuries.

A hospital spokesman did not immediately respond to an inquiry Saturday evening.

This afternoon at 1:10 p.m., MBPD received a call of a helicopter crash in the ocean near 10 Street. Police and @MiamiBeachFire responded to the scene along with several partner agencies. Two occupants have been transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital in stable condition.

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— Miami Beach Police (@MiamiBeachPD) February 19, 2022

According to Matthew Lehner, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, there were three persons on board the Robinson R44 helicopter when it crashed at around 1:20 p.m. on Saturday. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will conduct an investigation into the disaster, which occurred “under unexplained circumstances,” according to Lehner in an email sent Saturday evening.

The Miami Beach Fire Department informed NBC6, a local news station, that if the incident had occurred “50 yards closer onshore, we would have had a mass casualty event on our hands.” The fire department, which could not immediately respond to a request for comment, stated that it was “amazing — ridiculous” that no one was wounded in the water.

According to police, the mishap occurred on South Beach at 10th Street, and a part of the beach from 9th to 11th streets was closed while officials responded to the event.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the R44 helicopter is “well known to investigators,” since a 2018 study indicated that the model had a greater risk of fatal accidents per hour flown than other common types. The aircraft’s maker, Robinson Helicopter Co., denied the report.

The FAA and the manufacturer, according to the Times, were “slow to address design defects and operating characteristics that have caused or contributed to accidents.”

Following the deaths of Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter in a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter crash in early 2020, a former FAA consultant, David Hoeppner, told The Washington Post that the industry had not “done all of the things in design and the reliability or integrity of the helicopter that we need to do.” According to its website, the Huntington Beach Police Department operates MD 520N helicopters.

In 2020, FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson stated that most helicopter accidents “turn out to have been preventable in hindsight.” He stated that while helicopter fatal accident rates were lower than general aviation rates, “it’s not enough.”