MIAMI – Caitlin Doran was visiting South Beach from Los Angeles when a helicopter came crashing down into the Atlantic Ocean. She said there was no shortage of Good Samaritans. About a dozen ran from the crowded beach to the four-seat lightweight helicopter.
Robert T. Arkin, a certified pilot, crashed a Robinson R44 into shallow water shortly after 1 p.m. on Saturday. Doran used her phone to record part of the rescue east of Lummus Park.
“Even when something bad happens, ‘BOOM!’ People step in to help,” Doran said, adding that witnessing the rescuers’ fearless goodwill was “inspiring” to her.
Arkin, 59, wasn’t injured, but his wife, Rachelle Mussary Arkin, 58, a former North Beach Elementary School teacher, and Morgan Geller, 35, a commercial law attorney, remained hospitalized on Tuesday.
Maria Costa is among the parents who are wishing Mussary Arkin a fast recovery. She described her as a loving teacher who was always in a good mood and had a good sense of humor.
“She was really nice and she gave us a lot of candy,” Costa’s daughter Mia said.
Meanwhile, Geller had already been going through difficulties. Attorney Jorgen Slots, Geller’s fiancée, recently died in Miami Beach. Friends said she has been grieving since he suffered a head injury when he fell from a golf cart. He was 40.
Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the helicopter crash east of the busy intersection of Ocean Drive and 10th Street.
The Robinson Helicopter Company’s model R44 and R44 II helicopters are popular and have been the subject of scrutiny by both the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The R44 helicopters have had several FAA airworthiness directives including one late last year after reports of cracked blades. It warned, “the unsafe condition, if not addressed, could result in reduced controllability and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.”
The NTSB also issued a safety recommendation in 2014 to the FAA requesting improvements to the helicopter’s resistance to a post-accident fuel tank leak.
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