Sea World helicopter crash: video shows inside the cockpit and pilot pulling survivors from wreck

Video from inside the cockpit of one of the helicopters involved in the Sea World tragedy shows a passenger warning the pilot of the other approaching aircraft.

The footage obtained by Seven News shows inside the higher positioned helicopter that was flying in to land – which the pilot managed to stablise after the collision allowing all on board to walk away with minor injuries.

A passenger in the back seat is shown repeatedly tapping the pilot on the right shoulder with increasing urgency.

Four people on the lower helicopter were killed after it nosedived into the sandbar on the Gold Coast Broadwater on Monday – pilot Ash Jenkinson, 40, British nationals Ron and Diane Hughes, 65 and 57 and Sydney mum Vanessa Tadros, 36.

See also  Margot Robbie stuns in daring split dress at Babylon premiere in Sydney

Footage shows inside the higher positioned helicopter before the collision (pictured) 

Ms Tadros’s heartbroken husband Simon has asked for prayers for the couple’s son Nicholas who has undergone multiple operations in hospital since the accident.

‘I do ask that if everyone can please say a prayer for Nicky, so he can wake up and make a good recovery,’ Mr Tadros posted on social media.

‘He is in an induced coma on a life support machine to help him breath (sic).

‘He is in a very serious and critical state. I’m asking for all your prayers to bring my little man back to me.’

The helicopter, which had seven people aboard, fell from a height and slammed into a sandbar after its main rotor struck the windscreen of a second helicopter, and detached.

Nicholas and Vanessa Tadros hold up their Sea World helicopter pass on Monday (pictured)

The second helicopter’s cockpit was severely damaged, but 52-year-old pilot Michael James managed to land on the sandbar, saving the lives of his five passengers, four of whom suffered glass shrapnel injuries.

The passengers included a West Australian woman and two New Zealand couples in their 40s who were travelling together.

A second video shows Mr James, after having successfully landed the helicopter, working to free his passengers from the wreck by cutting their seatbelts with a knife and helping them to their feet. 

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is probing the crash, focusing on what was happening inside the two cockpits at the point of impact.

Chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said Mr Jenkinson’s aircraft had taken off and was in the air for less than 20 seconds before its main rotor blades hit the cockpit of the second helicopter. 

See also  Courteney Cox makes a rare public appearance with boyfriend Johnny McDaid

After the pilot managed to stablise and land his helicopter, footage shows him pulling his passengers from the wreck (pictured)