Sea World chopper crash victims ‘screaming’ for help
Rex Martinich and Laine Clark |
A woman has given a harrowing account of being trapped under a helicopter screaming for help after shocking footage of one of Australia’s worst air disasters was revealed.
Winnie De Silva has relived the moment two Sea World choppers collided above the Gold Coast Broadwater in January 2023, pinning the joy flight passenger under “hot machinery”.
She was on board one of the aircraft with her son when the helicopters crashed outside a theme park during the busy summer holiday season.
Almost three years later, Ms De Silva told an inquest into the crash she initially dismissed a noise that turned out to be the sound of the two choppers colliding.
“I thought a bird could have hit us somehow. I heard that bang. I wasn’t very worried as I thought the pilot would take care of it,” she said via videolink on Monday.
“When the shaking started happening, things started falling on our faces.
“Then I realised it was not going to be safe. I was holding my son’s hand. The shaking was just terrible.”
Ms De Silva could not recall the helicopter hitting the ground but did remember being helplessly trapped under the aircraft and yelling for help.
“There was hot machinery on my body. I was screaming and screaming,” she said.
Ms De Silva was told when nearby boaties arrived that her son was safe.
“I asked what was on me. They said aviation fuel. I asked them to pull me out but they said I was trapped,” she told the inquest.
Ms De Silva could not remember how long she was under the helicopter before firefighters cut her free.
Gold Coast Water Police supervisor Justin Dunn arrived on the scene within minutes.
“It was absolute chaos,” acting Senior Sergeant Dunn said.
Bystanders performed CPR on a woman and gave first aid to an injured young boy, the inquest was told.
As he approached an overturned aircraft, Sgt Dunn was given a chilling warning by a concerned bystander near the “mangled wreck”.
“He said be careful of pressurised fuel lines, as they could explode,” he said.
Sgt Dunn found people dead in an upside down helicopter before discovering Ms De Silva trapped under the rear of the aircraft.
“I introduced myself and said help was on the way. I asked for a towel to wipe the fuel from her face,” he said.
The sobering account came after collision footage was shown as part of counsel assisting Ian Harvey’s opening address to coroner Carol Lee in Brisbane on Monday.
Just 25 seconds after the second helicopter took off, it collided with a fellow Sea World-branded chopper at an altitude just under 40 metres.
Jesse Maya testified that he filmed out the helicopter’s window for his entire flight from take-off to emergency landing, including the moment of the collision.
“I didn’t see the other helicopter until literally the last second,” he said via videolink.
“I heard someone say ‘helicopter, helicopter’.”
A passenger in the second helicopter tapped on the pilot’s shoulder to get his attention, another video showed.
“It’s inescapable that neither pilot saw the other pilot’s helicopter,” Mr Harvey said.
“How could that happen? They were two experienced pilots in modern, relatively sophisticated helicopters.”
Security camera footage showed the helicopter piloted by Ashley Jenkinson crash onto a sandbar near Sea World and roll onto its roof.
Mr Jenkinson, 40, died as well as British newlyweds Ronald and Diane Hughes – aged 65 and 67 – and Sydney mother Vanessa Tadros, 36.
Ms Tadros’ husband Simon was at the inquest on Monday.
CCTV on a nearby helipad also captured the helicopter piloted by Michael James coming to a controlled landing near the first chopper’s crash site.
Mr James – who died from an unrelated medical condition in 2024 – and nine passengers across both aircraft were injured.
The inquest will look at 11 critical issues surrounding the crash over three weeks.
It comes months after a damning safety bureau report on the collision.
A litany of factors led to the crash including limited visibility, failed radio transmissions and a lack of safety protocols, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s final report revealed in April.
AAP
