Helicopter Crashes Into Florida Warehouse, 'No Survivors'

The building the helicopter struck was unoccupied at the time, though workers were present in the surrounding area, Boynton Beach Battalion Chief, Matt Oxendine said.

Rudy Blalock

Published: 3/23/2026, 11:26:48 PM EDT

Helicopter Crashes Into Florida Warehouse, 'No Survivors' — A helicopter flies over Camp Mystic on the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas, on July 8, 2025. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images)

A small helicopter plunged through the roof of a vacant warehouse in Boynton Beach, Florida, on Monday afternoon, killing everyone on board. There was no fire, no smoke, and no explosion, according to the city’s fire chief.

The crash occurred around 12:30 p.m. near the 3800 block of South Congress Avenue, according to the Boynton Beach Police Department. Responders from both the Boynton Beach Police Department and Boynton Beach Fire Rescue were initially dispatched to the wrong location before rerouting to find the downed plane—a Robinson R44—lodged inside the building'.

"There were no survivors," Boynton Beach Battalion Chief Matt Oxendine said during a news conference held shortly after 2 p.m. Two people were on board the helicopter at the time of the crash, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The building the helicopter struck was unoccupied at the time, though workers were present in the surrounding area, Oxendine said. The lightweight truss roof offered little resistance to the falling plane.

"I don't know if they were trying to land or not. That's just where they ended up, on the roof, and went through. It's a lightweight truss roof, so it actually crashed through it," Oxendine said.

Responders said the scene was unusually quiet for a crash of this nature. Responders could only find minimal fuel spill.

"(There was) no fire, no smoke. Usually, you would see it from far away. We actually got dispatched to the next neighborhood over ... We had to come back and search to find it. It only took us a couple minutes to reroute," Oxendine said.

Witnesses Heard a 'Noise'

A nearby worker, Michel Elet, told local news station WPTV that he heard something but initially had no idea what had happened.

"I heard the noise but didn't know what happened," Elet said. "I was in my car. I heard that happened in the building, but I didn't know exactly what happened. When the police came in, they asked us to get out. That's when I knew the helicopter crashed into the building. That's very crazy."

The identities of those killed have not been released. The FAA confirmed it is involved in the investigation, and that the National Transportation Safety Board will take the lead. Authorities were still awaiting NTSB's arrival on scene as of the afternoon news conference.

Motorists were urged by the Boynton Beach Police Department to avoid the South Congress Avenue area while crews remained on scene.

Monday's crash is the latest in a string of small plane incidents to hit Florida and other parts of the country in recent weeks. On Saturday, a small single-engine Cessna carrying a family of five—including a 3-month-old infant and a 4-year-old child—crashed during takeoff on a grass runway at Upper Captiva Island in Florida after clipping a fence. No one on board was injured.

Earlier in March, a Cessna 210 overturned after failing to stop on landing at Cable Airport in Upland, California, flipping near a roadway on March 13. The pilot was unhurt, while an elderly female passenger was hospitalized as a precaution.