Helicopter Crashes Into Intracoastal Off Bradenton Beach

BRADENTON, FL -- A recently licensed pilot flew a helicopter "nose first" into the Intracoastal Waterway off Bradenton Beach Saturday, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. The incident happened around 12:15 p.m.

The sheriff's office said that both the pilot and co-pilot were pulled from the water without any apparent injuries.

"A Robinson R22 helicopter hit water and flipped over along Sarasota Bay today," added a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The pilot was identified by the sheriff's office as 48-year-old Josef Bakker and the co-pilot was identified as 42-year-old James Rahming, who celebrated his birthday on Wednesday.

"Through interviews, they learned that the pilot who was recently licensed was flying over the ICW while the co-pilot was taking photos of passing boats," said the sheriff's office. "At some point, the pilot made a maneuver to fly in the opposite direction but failed to realize that he didn’t have enough altitude to make the maneuver."

The sheriff's office said that the pilot instead flew the helicopter into the water nose first.

"Marine deputies towed the aircraft to Coquina boat ramp where they off-loaded the pilots," the sheriff's office said. "The FAA was notified and will follow up with the pilot at a later time. They allowed Sea Tow to deal with the aircraft from the Boat ramp."