Michigan man among 2 dead in Florida helicopter crash, police say
A Lansing, Michigan, man is among the two victims of a fatal helicopter crash in Florida, local police reported.
The small helicopter crashed into a vacant warehouse building about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in Boynton Beach. Boynton Beach is in southern Florida, north of Fort Lauderdale.
The victims were Bryan Menna, 52, of Lansing, and Alejandro Carrasco, 28, of West Palm Beach, Florida. Police said Carassco was a flight instructor on the Robinson R44 helicopter, and Menna was the student in training.
One of the witnesses told CBS News Miami that he saw the helicopter going down nose-first toward the building.
"I was leaving work for lunch. I stopped at the stop sign down there. In the corner of my eye, I saw a helicopter coming straight down, like it was coming to the end of a barrel roll," Rhett Savidge said.
The Boynton Beach Police Department led efforts at the scene, with the assistance of the Boynton Beach Fire Department.
The National Transportation Safety Board has now been assigned as the lead investigation agency, assisted by the Federal Aviation Administration. A preliminary accident report is expected in about a month.