Sea World helicopter crash: Quirk fate that could have caused deadly collision – details in footage

The doomed Sea World helicopter that crashed killing four people can be seen looming moments before impact in chilling footage taken inside the cockpit of the helicopter that struck.

Aviation experts have now pored over the haunting footage and have revealed key moments in the video clip, including the final seconds of chief pilot Ash Jenkinson and his passengers.

One now believes that the crash may have been caused by a tragic twist of fate where both helicopters were in each other’s blind spots.

The footage appears to show that the helicopter being lifted may have been hidden from the surviving pilot’s line of sight by the cockpit fuselage.

And the descending helicopter, above and to the right, may have been obscured by the angle that it was on Mr. Jenkinson, who was on the opposite side of his plane with two passengers to his right.

Desperate warnings from the passengers to the pilot may also have been drowned out by engine noise and their microphones possibly muted by incoming radio messages.

“It’s an extraordinary quirk of fate,” industry veteran Geoffrey Thomas of AirlineRatings told Daily Mail Australia.

Vanessa Tadros, 36, died along with British newlyweds Ron Hughes, 65, and his wife Diane, 57, and chief pilot Ash Jenkinson, 40, in Monday’s tragedy off the Gold Coast.

Vanessa’s son Nicholas Tadros, 10, is in critical condition on life support, while Leon de Silva, 9, and mother Winnie, 33, are in stable condition with multiple injuries.

The video was filmed in the second helicopter carrying New Zealand couples Riaan and Elmarie Steenberg and Marle and Edward Swart, as well as a tourist from Western Australia, and piloted by 52-year-old Michael James.

As the clip opens, it pans across the cockpit and the outer horizon, revealing Jenkinson’s Eurocopter 130 helicopter already airborne and frighteningly close.

He is briefly seen soaring towards Mr. James’s identical helicopter, but the experienced pilot seems oblivious to the danger and looks to the right.

It appears that the other aircraft may have been concealed by the cockpit pillar to its left.

“The other helicopter that took off is in a blind spot,” Mr Thomas said.

‘As it turns, you can see the other helicopter. The passenger in the back can see the helicopter.

“But if you look at the pilot, part of the cockpit structure is masking that helicopter, and when it turns, it continues to mask the other aircraft.

“He’s really in his blind spot and he stays there, so he couldn’t see.”

Despite the imminent danger, both the pilot and one of the passengers appear to be looking in the right direction moments before impact.

Keith Tonkin, managing director of Aviation Projects, believes that Mr James may have been concentrating on where he was going to land and the events to the right when the other helicopter approached him.

“He could have focused on something like where he was and where he was flying,” the aviation consultant said. I don’t know if she has been distracted.

“He might have had something that he thought was important at the time to focus on, what he was directing his attention towards.”

Two passengers have a different angle on the outside view and spot the danger, apparently signaling the plane until one frantically taps the pilot’s shoulder to alert him.

The tourist then braces for impact as the pilot turns to face him, just as the cockpit explodes in a shower of shattered glass and metal as the other helicopter crashes.

The video sparked speculation as to why the passengers did not appear to be saying anything over the radio headset intercom systems they were wearing.

But Thomas said their microphones may have been muted by incoming radio messages that drowned out the chat on the plane.

“It could be that the microphone was muted because there was some other communication going through and coming in,” Mr. Thomas said.

‘It may have been a helicopter saying ‘I’m lifting’, or it just took off, or something. Who knows what that other communication might have been?

‘But certainly, the passengers could be listening to it. He could have spoken to her, but he clearly went from a tap on the shoulder to bracing for impact.

He added: ‘It’s disgusting. Nauseating. Relaxed.’

The devastating impact was revealed in an extended version of the video that showed the cockpit split open amid shards of glass and metal everywhere.

The blue sky can be seen through the shattered remains of the helicopter’s forward fuselage and the noise of the rotor blades can be clearly heard as the horizon spins outside.

Off-camera, the other helicopter’s rotor blades and gearbox had been torn off by the collision, which is believed to have then severed its rear tail rotor.

Loss of control then caused him to fall face down towards the sandbar below where he crashed to the ground, killing four inside.

However, miraculously, Mr. James managed to regain control of his aircraft despite the shock and terror of the situation and the extensive damage to the aircraft’s flight controls.

In jaw-dropping scenes, he calmly shot down the disabled helicopter into a safe crash-landing near the wrecked wreckage of the other helicopter.

Mr. Tonkin praised the pilot’s ability and mental strength to respond under the circumstances.

“The pilot did an amazing job,” he said. No doubt about that. The entire front of the helicopter was destroyed.

It would have been so disorienting. In your mind, you’re doing something and you’re predicting your flight path, and then that happens, all of a sudden…

“Not being in control of the aircraft and having all that damage and devastation around you will be very disorienting. It would not be expected.

“It is also questionable whether the pilot had the full instrumentation and information that he would normally have to be able to land a helicopter.”

“The fact that it has landed safely is amazing.”

New Zealanders who survived the crash paid tribute to pilot hero Michael James for saving their lives in a statement on Thursday.

‘To our pilot, who, through all the chaos, landed the helicopter safely, keeping us and other bystanders safe. You are our hero. Thank you very much,’ they said.

‘Our deepest condolences and condolences to the injured and deceased and their families.

We are thankful and blessed to have been saved, but very sad for the people who lost their loved ones and the little ones and the mother who are fighting for their lives in the hospital.

‘Our hearts are so heavy for them.’