SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Authorities have identified the victims of a helicopter crash in Southwest Miami-Dade that left one man dead and a woman injured, as the investigation continued for a second day.
7News cameras on Thursday captured crews as they pulled the helicopter out of a canal near Southwest 184th Avenue and 120th Street.
According to Miami-Dade Police, 71-year-old Clement Zanzuri and his daughter, 27-year-old Jordan Ann Zanzuri, were on board the helicopter when it went down, Wednesday afternoon.
Police said the helicopter took off from Fort Myers and was en route to Miami Executive Airport when it crashed into the canal.
According to investigators, units initially responded to several 911 calls about the crash.
“The witnesses were stating they saw what appeared to be a helicopter that was spinning and falling,” said MDPD Detective Alvaro Zabaleta.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue divers and several tactical units responded to the scene.
Jordan was the first to be seen coming out of the water. She later told officials that her father did not resurface.
Divers were able to locate Clement and pull him out of the water.
Paramedics transported both victims to Jackson South Medical Center by ground. However, Clement would later succumb to his injuries.
Jordan remains in stable condition and is expected to survive.
“It’s pretty scary that something like that happened around here,” said area resident Vivian Alvarez
Alvarez said she witnessed the immediate aftermath.
“We saw a chopper very low, very low, and actually, directly, right behind where it happened,” she said.
Shortly after, Alvarez said, she noticed more choppers in the area.
“Soon thereafter, there were like five helicopters,” she said.
Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration said the helicopter is a Hughes 369 aircraft.
Detectives investigated for hours and into the night on Wednesday.
“Who was the pilot? Who was navigating the aircraft? Those are all questions that still need to be determined,” said Zabaleta, “and, of course, that information is going to come from [the National Transportation Safety Board], who is going to conduct the investigation in regards to the crash.”
The Miami-Dade Police Department’s Homicide Bureau is conducting a death investigation that resulted from the crash. The NTSB will lead the investigation into the cause of the crash.
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