FL Man Pleads Guilty To Operating Helicopter Without License: U.S. DOJ

BRADENTON, FL — A Bradenton man pleaded guilty to operating as an airman without the required airman certificate after landing a helicopter on top of a shorebird nesting site at Egmont Key State Park in May, authorities said.

Ernesto Cordero, 54, faces a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. A sentencing date hasn’t been set.

Watch a video of his helicopter landing at Egmont Key here.

According to the plea agreement, Cordero obtained a student pilot’s license, which allowed him to operate his personal helicopter with an instructor in the passenger seat or fly the helicopter alone in certain circumstances.

• Also Read: Pilot Lands Helicopter On Shorebird Nesting Site On Egmont Key: Watch

The license didn’t authorize Cordero to fly with passengers. To fly with passengers, he would need to get a full pilot’s license, which he never did.

He still frequently flew his helicopter with passengers onboard despite the restrictions of his license, the DOJ said.

In June 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration received a complaint when Cordero landed his helicopter at Egmont Key, a barrier island between Pinellas and Manatee counties. When he landed, a passenger left and then returned to the helicopter, the DOJ said.

A witness who filmed Cordero landing the helicopter on the beach told investigators that a woman got out of the aircraft, according to a Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission incident summary report. She took a few pictures before boarding the helicopter and they took off again.

In the witness’ video, various shorebirds protected under state law, including black skimmers and sandwich terns, are seen flying away from their nests as the helicopter landed, the FWC said.

The following month, the FAA received another complaint that Cordero was flying others in his helicopter from a dock behind a home in Marathon, the DOJ said.

After these incidents, the FAA learned that his helicopter was landing at Tampa Executive Airport. Once the helicopter landed, Cordero admitted that he was again flying the helicopter and that he had a passenger onboard.