Robinson R44 N272JW Crashes in Biscayne Bay on a Photography Flight, Killing One Man

A Robinson R44 II helicopter identified in flight-tracking data as N272JW crashed into Biscayne Bay off Key Biscayne, Florida, late on the morning of Wednesday, November 4, 2026. One man died and two men were taken to a trauma center, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating and has named the type as an R44 II. It said preliminary information indicates the helicopter was on a photography flight.

What the agencies have said

Three people were aboard, the Coast Guard said in its first statement, which put the crash at about 11:30 a.m. local time. The FAA gave a time of about 11:15 a.m.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said its Miami marine agents heard a mayday call from a good Samaritan at about 11:20 a.m. Two of its interceptor boats were the first law enforcement crews on scene and pulled two people from the water, CBP said.

CBP added that the pilot was carried separately on a sheriff’s office boat while lifesaving measures were under way. None of the agency statements opened for this story said whether the man who died was the pilot.

Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said a good Samaritan was trying to save one man before deputies brought him to No Name Harbor, where Miami Fire Rescue pronounced him dead, as Local 10 reported. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told the station the two injured men went to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.

The sheriff described both survivors as in critical but stable condition. She said the helicopter appeared to have been chartered and was filming boats on the water when it went down.

Aerial video showed the helicopter upside down in the water, with yellow flotation devices on its landing skids. The names of the three men had not been released at the time of writing.

The helicopter and its owner

None of the official statements opened for this story gives the registration. Local 10 matched the crash to N272JW through FlightAware data, which shows the helicopter leaving North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines at 10:48 a.m. and its last position near Miami at 11:17 a.m.

The FAA registry lists N272JW as a 2015 Robinson R44 II with a fuel-injected Lycoming IO-540 engine. Its registered owner is Global Aerials Inc. of Pembroke Pines, which CNN described from FAA records as an aerial photography company.

CNN also reported thunderstorms with lightning and light rain at Miami International Airport around the time of the crash, with gusts of 20 mph reported closer to the site. Cordero-Stutz said weather data would be part of the investigation into its cause.

The R44, and an earlier Key Biscayne ditching

The Robinson R44 is a four-seat piston helicopter that first flew in 1990 and was certified by the FAA in December 1992. Robinson Helicopter says it has built more than 7,800, and it delivered its first camera-equipped Newscopter version in 1998.

The Raven II variant, introduced in 2002, added the fuel-injected engine and wider rotor blades. The cabin seats a pilot and three passengers; the Biscayne Bay flight had three people aboard.

Tracking data cited by CNN shows the helicopter circling several times near the bridge to Key Biscayne before it turned south. Investigators have not said what caused the crash.

The waters off Key Biscayne saw another R44 ditch on April 6, 2024, when N234ZT came down off Key Biscayne on a flight to the Bahamas. The NTSB’s final report blamed a loss of engine power for reasons it could not determine, after saltwater and sediment contamination left investigators unable to rule out some non-mechanical problems. That helicopter was an earlier, carbureted R44 and its pilot survived with serious injuries.

The crash comes days after nine people died when a Learjet 60 crashed near Greenacres in Palm Beach County. The NTSB generally aims to finish an investigation within 12 to 24 months, which would put a probable cause for N272JW between late 2027 and late 2028.