Acton man helps save passengers after helicopter crash off Miami Beach

ACTON, Mass. — An Acton father said it’s a miracle he and his daughter weren’t hit as a helicopter crashed off Miami Beach Saturday afternoon. They were in the water, just feet from where the chopper crash landed. Wade Callison is being credited with helping rescue the two passengers onboard.

Callison remembers catching a glimpse of the helicopter and immediately knew something wasn’t right. “I looked up and I thought that is kind of low and if that thing goes down it could hurt a lot of people,” he said.

The pilot avoided the beach and crash landed on a sandbar. Callison and his 17-year-old daughter, Avery, were just 20 feet from being hit. “In that moment I was sort of panicked. Do I run? Is it going to explode? What’s going to happen? I told my daughter, wait here and I took off running towards it,” Callison said.

Callison and another man both raced over to the helicopter and got there within 15 seconds. He said the canopy was shattered and he was praying it wouldn’t explode. “There’s a woman with her face all bloody and she’s just sitting there in shock. The pilot had already gotten himself loose and was standing. This other gentlemen and I released the lady in the front and got her out. We had to float her out under the canopy so we can get her out. He and I carried her over to a surfboard,” Callison said.

There were two female passengers onboard. Callison said they appeared to be pretty badly injured. After freeing the first woman Callison went back and helped pull out the other woman, who was strapped-in, in the backseat. “In that moment it was super surreal. You kind of just go through the motions and get it done and the nurses and doctors are running out stabilizing her head. We were doing all that, but what a crazy, crazy experience,” he said.

Miami Beach first responders said they typically don’t encourage bystanders to join in a rescue effort, but in this case, their help was needed. And just in the nick of time. Callison said the helicopter was on the verge of flipping over on its side and sinking into deeper water.

If you have a Positively Massachusetts story idea, contact Boston25 anchor Chris Flanagan at PositivelyMA@Boston25.com.

1 of 4