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Parts of Sea World have been cordoned off after two helicopters crashed outside the theme park leaving four people dead, three fighting for their lives and others injured.
Sea World on the Gold Coast took the step to prevent park visitors from looking at the scene of the accident, while traumatized witnesses speak about what happened.
Witness Emma Burch told Daily Mail Australia how the accident unfolded at around 2pm on Monday.
From what we saw, one was taking off and the other was landing. They hit each other,” he said.
A massive explosion was heard through the Broadwater resort park and then the hiss as the loser hit the water and broke apart.
It is awful. Everyone is in shock.
Sea World Helicopters expressed sympathy for those involved in the crash and said it is cooperating with authorities to find out what happened.
A helicopter involved in a crash is seen on a sandbar just outside Sea World theme park on the Gold Coast.
It is estimated that hundreds of witnesses watched the mid-air collision unfold.
‘I heard an explosion and saw smoke coming from one of the helicopters. He was smoking and staggering to the ground,” said one.
‘One person was asking if it was part of the Sea World show.’
Local man Tor Kumpel and his wife were swimming in the nearby Broadwater estuary when he saw the helicopters crash into each other.
‘I could see two helicopters. One went up and the other went down and the rear rotor picked up the one that went down,’ he told the mail.
Kumpel said the helicopter taking off crashed, but the helicopter on top managed to land.
‘It was just a helicopter that crashed. The one that was approaching. It was horrible to watch,” he added.
“The (pilot) that was in the other one landed that.”
The two helicopters involved in the collision are seen on the sandbar on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
A man named John who was holidaying with his wife and young son on the Gold Coast called Melbourne’s 3AW radius about the tragic scene.
“I’m at Sea World right now and it looks like there’s been a massive accident involving two helicopters,” he said.
“Basically everything is happening here right now, ambulances, fire trucks. I was walking with my son and some Sea World staff were running outside.
“I really didn’t know what had happened, but there was a huge explosion,” he said.
Marine Rescue ran onto the sandbank after two helicopters (pictured) collided on Monday
The accident of two helicopters left four dead, three fighting for their lives and others injured
John said that Sea World had “closed off that side of the park now so people can’t look out into the water.” It’s pretty scary stuff, actually.
‘It happened right outside the theme park, apparently one was taking off and the other was flying or something…
“It’s literally right outside the theme park, we could hear it on that side.”
John described what he heard as “a massive, massive explosion.” It was just huge. I’m not sure if it was the propellers or whatever collided with each other.
Rescue workers are shown at the scene of a helicopter crash over the Broadwater estuary on the Gold Coast.
The crash between two helicopters (pictured) occurred at around 2pm Queensland time.
He saw a woman “and her child crying on the helipad” and speculated that she might have had relatives on one of the helicopters.
“There was no announcement on the park’s PA system about what had happened,” he said.
“The theme park is basically running as normal. They’ve really only blocked off that side so no one looks into the water, for obvious reasons.
‘They’re just trying to keep things running smoothly, I guess.’
A New South Wales woman watched the accident unfold while queuing for the Vortex ride at Sea World.
“My son said there were two helicopters coming at the same time and I’ve never seen that before, but then one turned and hit the other with its tail,” said Amii McDermott from the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. Gold Coast Newsletter.
Police officers are shown holding a white sheet to protect a victim of the helicopter crash.
Police officers are shown at the scene of a crash between two helicopters on Monday afternoon.
Ms McDermott said she had never seen anything like it before and she and her family were shocked and horrified.
The 42-year-old emergency dispatcher said there was “debris everywhere, the tail fell off one of them and the helicopter fell to the ground at full speed.”
She said that while her young children don’t know what they’ve seen, her older children do.
Sea World Helicopters expressed its shock and sympathy for those involved in the accident.
In the photo, investigators look at the damage done to one of the two crashed helicopters.
A rescue boat is pictured next to one of the crashed helicopters off Queensland’s Gold Coast.
“We and the entire flight community are devastated by what happened and our deepest condolences go out to everyone involved and especially the loved ones and family of the deceased,” a spokesperson said.
We are cooperating with all authorities, including the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the Queensland Police. As it is now a police investigation, we are unable to provide any further information at this time.
The ATSB said it has already begun an investigation into the crash.
“Transport safety investigators with experience in helicopter operations, maintenance and survivability engineering are deploying from ATSB’s Brisbane and Canberra offices and are expected to begin arriving at the crash site from Monday afternoon.” said ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell.