Gold Coast chopper crash: SeaWorld helicopter pilot became a father last year as tributes flow in

Tributes have poured in for the ‘Top Gun’ pilot who died in Monday’s helicopter crash and only became a father last year, as a devastated colleague reveals the final message he sent to him before the tragedy.

Ash Jenkinson, 40, originally from Birmingham in the UK, was one of four people killed when the SeaWorld EC130 helicopter he was flying collided with another EC130 helicopter in the air before plummeting 30 meters onto a sandbar in Gold Coast Broadwater on Monday.

Three others, believed to be a woman and two children, were seriously injured in the crash and are fighting for their lives at hospital.

He welcomed his first son, Kaiden, in September of last year with his wife, Kosha.

One of Jenkinson’s closest companions, Ritchie Gregg, paid tribute to the dead pilot by saying he was “a top guy, a top gun and the best dad” and that his 17-month-old son Kaiden “would probably be asking where’s daddy?” TRUE? now.

Gregg said he messaged Jenkinson when he heard via social media from another of his co-workers that there had been an accident, asking ‘I hope that wasn’t you?’

“I found out at ten past two.” I sent the message and was waiting for a response.

“When he and Kosha had their son (in September 2021), he was the most excited father. (Kosha) is very quiet, she is in shock. Kaiden… he’s probably asking where dad is.

“They just got married in October,” she explained.

‘Ash had the biggest heart and was the happiest guy, when he was done flying work he would go straight home to see his son.

“Family was the most important thing.”

Another close friend, Andy Taylor, said he found out about the horrible news with everyone else, on social media.

“I saw it appear in a social media post,” Taylor told Channel Seven’s breakfast show Sunrise.

I tried to call Ash right away. At first the phone was dead and then it went to voicemail. That fear, Ross Meadows, said that he broke the news to me.

Mr. Jenkinson’s former partner also shared a tribute and included numerous photos with the beloved pilot.

He described Jenkinson as “a big guy with a big heart” who helped out during the height of the NSW Northern Rivers flood crisis last year.

“He did a lot of charity work, we did the flooding in Ballina and saved a lot of people,” Taylor told Sunrise on Tuesday.

The pilot transported food, water and other essential items for flood survivors who were cut off from their community for days.

He is the best of the best. I do not know what else to say.

Jenkinson was the chief pilot of Sea World’s helicopters and “loved” his job, according to Taylor, who spent a lot of time in the air with him.

He was so good at what he did. He was right, I don’t understand what happened,” Taylor said.

It was his life. It was everything to him.

I don’t think he had any other hobbies. That was it. That was it for him.

“Above all he was a family man. He loved his family, he loved his baby,” Taylor said.

‘His family definitely came first. Second helicopter. But they were the two passions of his life.

An eyewitness to the tragedy described the dramatic moment a child’s life was possibly saved when he was unable to breathe immediately after the accident.

Gold Coast resident Travis Slatter was near the scene when he saw members of the public and SeaWorld staff scrambling to help possible survivors, including a “lady who put a tube down the boy’s throat to get him to breathe.” .

Slatter said the terrifying scene “hit the spot with the boy, after hearing him start to moan after the tube went in.” .’

He also described the heroism of the surviving pilot in the crash, whose friends told Daily Mail Australia that he is a few years older than Ash Jenkinson, who was in his 30s.

Slatter credits the second pilot with “saving a lot of lives today” after seeing his colleague Ash Jenkinson’s helicopter crash to the ground.

“To see it first hand and how cut up he was and for a second it looked like he was going to fall out of the sky too but he managed to put it down is insane,” Slatter posted on Facebook.

Slatter also watched as members of the public and then SeaWorld staff and eventually paramedics took over, describing the heroism of “a girl in black swim trunks, three men and a legend on a party pontoon” helping survivors with a man “outside the fuselage”. …digging under the rear to get in’ and another guy ‘pouring water all over the fuel’, and ‘people trying CPR’.

“It was chaotic, but everyone was weaponized until the experts took over and gave everyone their best chance,” Mr Slatter said. ‘Thoughts are with everyone involved today.

‘Everyone tried, even putting sheets and towels over people.’

Family and friends on Facebook remembered Jenkinson as a ‘hipster’, ‘kind’, a ‘true gentleman’ and a ‘top guy’ by his friends and family.

‘There was no one like your partner. One of a kind! My heart breaks for Kosha and your little baby. Rest in peace Jenko. Condolences to all the family and friends,’ wrote one.

Another said: ‘Ash our hearts are broken and our prayers are with your family. I really love you brother.’

‘For once in my life, I’m struggling with words. I had the privilege of working with Ash for 6 months in 2021’, a third commented.

‘An incredible pilot. Always so kind, helpful and supportive. A true gentleman, and always willing to lend a helping hand.

Another added: “Yesterday we lost a best partner, a son, a brother, a father and a partner.”

Many of us were lucky to have you in our lives.

‘You are so tall and strong and proud, you are an amazing fellow!’

The other three passengers on that helicopter, a woman and two young children, were rushed to hospital in critical condition. Two were taken to Gold Coast University Hospital.

The third, a primary school-aged boy, was taken by a RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter to Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.

As of Tuesday, that child remains in critical condition at Queensland Children’s Hospital.

Two of the people who died in the accident were British citizens.

Investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Office recover the wreckage of the destroyed plane after the tide rose Tuesday morning.

An investigation is also underway to determine how the tragedy occurred.

The Transportation Security Office is examining whether a communication error, system malfunction or some other failure caused the two helicopters to collide.

The regional duty officer corroborated reports that one helicopter appeared to be taking off while the other was landing when the two collided.

Footage of the incident recorded by an eyewitness seemed to back that up.

Aviation safety experts told Daily Mail Australia that a helicopter already airborne should normally give way to a plane taking off.