{"id":448858,"date":"2026-11-06T01:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T01:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/448858\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T01:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T01:30:14","slug":"doomed-pilot-of-florida-chopper-crash-idd-as-aviation-executive-as-2-survivors-are-released-from-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/448858\/","title":{"rendered":"Doomed pilot of Florida chopper crash ID\u2019d as aviation executive \u2013 as 2 survivors are released from hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

The doomed pilot of the helicopter that crashed off the Florida coast<\/a> near Key Biscayne has been identified as an aviation executive \u2014 just as two survivors of the frightening wreck were released from the hospital.<\/p>\n

Tomas Pendas, 63, was killed when the chopper he was manning went down in scenic Biscayne Bay near Bill Baggs State Park Wednesday. The pilot had been flying over the area while documenting boats on the water, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Pendas was president of Global Aerials, the company listed as the registered owner of the chopper, according to local affiliate NBC6.<\/p>\n

Tomas Pendas, 63, died when his Robinson R44 II helicopter crashed off the coast of Key Biscayne. NBC6<\/p>\n

The aircraft was being used for a photoshoot of the \u201cPoker Run\u201d speedboat event, according to authorities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The two other victims aboard the helicopter \u2014 52-year-old Ryan McCoy and 27-year-old Ryan Ferraro, the owner of Boats Daily, a full-service digital marine marketing agency \u2014 suffered minor injuries and have since been released from the hospital, CBS<\/a> and NBC6 reported.<\/p>\n

When rescue boats arrived at the crash site Wednesday morning, they spotted a good Samaritan trying to save Pendas, according to Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz.<\/p>\n

Despite the stranger\u2019s heroic efforts, Pendas was pronounced dead at the scene, Cordero-Stutz added.<\/p>\n

A small helicopter lies in the water after crashing near Nixon Beach, injuring two people and leaving a third person, Pendas, dead. NBC 6 South Florida<\/p>\n

McCoy and Ferraro were airlifted to a local hospital after marine units raced to the wreck.<\/p>\n

The downed aircraft was identified as a Robinson R44, WSVN reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Grim footage captured by the news station\u2019s own helicopter showed the fallen chopper\u2019s bright yellow floats in the water alongside a body covered by a yellow tarp.<\/p>\n

Crews work during the rescue effort near Biscayne Bay where a pilot was killed and two passengers were injured. NBC 6 South Florida<\/p>\n

Investigators are focusing on \u201cman, machinery, and the environment\u201d to piece together the final moments of the tragic crash, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Gene Rambo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegarding the human part, we are reviewing the records,\u201d Rambo told reporters at a press conference, according to CBS.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking at medical records, and we are looking at the man and the helicopter and what was recovered and looking at the wreckage itself,\u201d Rambo continued<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Key\u00a0Biscayne is a 5-mile-long barrier island that\u2019s home to picturesque beaches, lush parks and the Ritz-Carlton.<\/p>\n

Crews are working to haul the submerged wreckage from those waters, but officials warned the salvage operation will be treacherous.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to do as little damage as possible in the recovery,\u201d Rambo explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very difficult pulling something out of the water.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The doomed pilot of the helicopter that crashed off the Florida coast near Key Biscayne has been identified…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1994,28,30,29,59486,87847,123,1798,4278],"class_list":["post-448858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-crashes","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-freak-accidents","tag-helicopter-crashes","tag-miami","tag-transportation","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}