An aviation expert says the Sea World chopper crash that killed four and left two children fighting for their life should ‘never have happened’.
Nicholas Tadros, 10 and Leon de Silva, 9, are both clinging to life in Queensland Children’s Hospital after they suffered serious injuries in Monday’s accident at Southport on the Gold Coast.
Leon is in an induced coma with a fractured skull while Nicholas has been put on life support in a critical condition.
Nicholas’ mother Vanessa Tadros, 36, died in the crash, along with British newlyweds Ron Hughes, 65, and wife Diane, 57, and pilot Ash Jenkinson, 40.
Leon’s mother Winnie, 33, was also airlifted to hospital with multiple broken bones after their chopper collided with another helicopter and plunged into the ground.
Aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas is convinced something unusual occurred in one or both of the cockpits to draw the pilots’ attention away from scanning for danger.
Vanessa Tadros (left) was killed instantly in the helicopter crash, but her son Nicholas (right) survived and is in hospital in a critical condition
‘The pilots must have been distracted by something,’ he said.
‘We don’t know what caused that.
‘Whether it was an engine warning light and the pilot lost focus or a passenger having a medical episode who lurched forward onto the controls.
‘It’s speculation, but I’m certain something has happened to distract one or both of the pilots, or there has been a tragic miscommunication between them.
‘These are both very good pilots in very good helicopters at a very good company. This is not a cow rustling operation.
‘This should never have happened.’
How the tragedy unfolded in just 20 seconds
The two helicopters involved in the collision can be seen on the sandbank – with one crashing into the sand and the other safely crash landing upright
The two Eurocopter EC130s – which Gold Coast company Sea World Helicopters had only just leased in November – ploughed into each other just after one took off.
Mr Jenkinson’s aircraft left the Sea World helipad and 20 seconds later, rose straight into the flight path of the second helicopter above, piloted by Michael James, 52.
The lower helicopter’s rotor blades sliced through the cockpit of the second chopper, spraying shattered glass and shards of metal at the pilot and passengers.
Ms de Silva who was in the lower helicopter said on Wednesday from her hospital bed that she heard a ‘loud bang’ and felt ‘shaking’ when the two helicopters collided.
‘I could see the pilot pressing all these buttons, stressed out – he didn’t know what to do. I don’t remember much [after that] but everyone was trembling and worried,’ Ms de Silva told the Herald Sun.
Gripped with terror as the Eurocopter EC130 started to nosedive towards the ground, she squeezed her son’s hand as tightly as she could.
‘The only thing I could see was death in my eyes. I didn’t want to see death in my eyes so I closed them and held my son’s hand beside me,’ she said.
Ms de Silva (pictured with son Leon) who was in the lower helicopter said on Wednesday from her hospital bed that she heard a ‘loud bang’ and felt ‘shaking’ when the two helicopters collided
Leon de Silva, 9, (left) has a fractured skull and is in an induced coma. His mother Winnie, 33, has two broken legs, a broken right shoulder, a broken collarbone and a damaged left knee
She remembers opening her eyes while trapped in the wreckage.
‘My feet and right arm were stuck. I remember screaming and yelling out for help… I wasn’t able to get out,’ Ms de Silva said.
Her husband Neil de Silva – who treated them to the joyride and waved his wife and stepson off – said he didn’t understand why the two helicopters were so close in the first place.
He and other families affected by the tragedy are now demanding answers as the investigation continues by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
Video from inside the cockpit of Mr James’ helicopter shows a passenger in the back attempting to warn him of the approaching lower aircraft – repeatedly tapping him on the shoulder with increasing urgency moments before impact.
Footage shows inside the higher positioned helicopter before the collision (pictured)
Gold Coast pilot Ash Jenkinson is being remembered as hero following the tragedy, for his work during the flood crisis delivering aid and rescuing those trapped
Vanessa Tadros who died in the chopper crash is pictured with her husband Simon – as their son Nicholas, 10, fights for life in hospital
Moments later the glass front of the helicopter’s cockpit explodes into shards as it’s hit by the blades of the other aircraft.
The impact ripped the rotor unit and gearbox from Mr Jenkinson’s plane, sending it tumbling out of control and plummeting upside down onto the sandbar below.
Incredibly the other pilot managed to keep control of his aircraft despite extensive damage to the front of the fuselage and his injuries from the shrapnel tearing through the cockpit.
His quick actions saved the lives of his five passengers, four of whom also suffered glass shrapnel injuries.
The passengers were two New Zealand couples – Riaan and Elmarie Steenberg and Marle and Edward Swart – in their 40s who were travelling together, along with an unnamed West Australian woman.
A second video shows Mr James, after the remarkable landing rushing over to the other chopper and helping those trapped inside by handing a knife to bystanders to cut them free from their seatbelts.
Footage shows Michael James, the pilot of the second helicopter, helping to free passengers from the wreckage of the other chopper
The Air Transport Safety Bureau has now launched its investigation into the crash and has vowed to look at all possible causes of the accident
The impact ripped the rotor unit and gearbox from pilot Ash Jenkinson’s plane, sending it tumbling out of control and plummeting upside down onto the sandbar below
Mr Thomas said the accident is baffling.
‘This is uncontrolled airspace which is known as G-Class airspace,’ he said. ‘They would have been in constant radio contact and had visuals on each other.
‘It’s a very professional operation.’
Aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas
According to Airservices Australia, which manages Australian airspace, G-Class airspace is not overseen by central air traffic control but constant radio contact is usually required around heliports and aerodromes.
Questions remain about the protocols in place at Sea World Helicopters that allowed the two aircraft, understood to be fitted with GPS positioning systems, to be taking off and landing in such close proximity to each other.
The Air Transport Safety Bureau has now launched its investigation into the crash and vowed to look at all possible causes of the accident.
‘We now have a painstaking job of trying to recreate exactly what’s occurred in the lead up to this,’ ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said.
‘We know the takeoff and the landing phases of any aircraft operations are critical phases of flight, where the the cognitive workload of pilots are at their greatest.
Sea World Helicopters’ chief pilot Ash Jenkinson, 40, died in the helicopter crash (pictured with his wife, Kosha)
Newlywed British couple Ron Hughes, 65, and wife Diane , 57, were killed in the tragic crash
‘What we need to know now is what was occurring inside those two cockpits at the time.
‘The process now for the ATSB is to gather all the intelligence and all the evidence we can we.’
Statements from those on board the helicopters who survived will be crucial to the investigation, but the ATSB chief admitted that may be delayed while they recover from the tragedy.
Mr Mitchell added: ‘We will be interviewing as many people as we need to from around here.
‘From witnesses to those on the helicopter that survived but we are also very mindful that today is obviously an extremely difficult day for a lot of people, particularly those that were involved in it.’
