Investigators will likely examine the number of helicopter joyrides operating at Sea World after a mid-air collision killed four people, an expert says.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating the cause of the crash which occurred when one helicopter was landing and the other had taken off at the Gold Coast theme park on Monday afternoon.
Pilot Ashley Jenkinson, Sydney woman Vanessa Tadros and British couple Diane and Ron Hughes died in the crash. Tadros’s 10-year-old son Nicholas remains in hospital, along with Geelong woman Winnie de Silva, 33, and her nine-year-old son.
Across Australia’s tourism sector, aviation expert Neil Hansford said reduced flying during the Covid pandemic has increased the commercial imperatives for quick flights.
He said this has put immense pressure on pilots who need to complete flights around major tourism landmarks in blocks of five or 10 minutes.
On Wednesday de Silva’s husband, Neil, said his wife and her son had tickets for a 10-minute ride, which was priced from $145 per person on the Sea World Helicopters website. The shortest scenic flight on offer – of five minutes – was priced at less than $100 per person, while trips lasting more than an hour were also available.
“It’s $85 for a five-minute flight,” Hansford said.
“So the helicopter lands, you get the people off, then the next group of people are out … [the pilot] takes off, does a five-minute circuit, comes back and does it all again.”
Hansford said despite the Gold Coast tragedy, commercial helicopter flights are extremely safe across Australia: “The engineering standards are high. The pilot qualifications are high.
“I think one of the implications may be that [commercial operators] restrict the number of aircraft that they’re operating … and they don’t do these five-minute quickies.”
Geoffrey Thomas, the editor-in-chief of Airlineratings.com, said helicopters were built for quick, short-distance flights and these kinds of accidents were extremely rare.
“This is an accident that should never have happened. There were perfect flying conditions, both helicopters [were] in sight of each other and in communication with each other,” Thomas said.
He said while it was too early to speculate on the cause of the crash, investigators would probably be assessing whether there were any distractions on board.
He said it was astonishing that one of the pilots was able to land on the sandbank, and his incredible skill saved the lives of passengers.
“Looking at the damage to his helicopter, the whole front [windscreen] is smashed in. It’s an extraordinary piece of flying that’s basically saved six or seven people,” Thomas said.
“And the other pilot who tragically died was the chief pilot. We’re talking about two very highly skilled helicopter pilots. Their skill level cannot be questioned.”
Hansford said the Sea World helicopter route is more complicated than others as pilots fly over the water rather than approaching from over the top of the land.
“At the Bathurst 1000, they have up to six helicopters operating but they all approach the landing pads in the one direction like a runway, and they all take off and climb to a certain height,” Hansford said.
“There are four helipads [in Sea World] and you can only approach from Broadwater. That’s one of the problems because you got all the hotels along there and a very congested area.”
A spokesperson from the ATSB said they were unable to comment on Wednesday as they were in the “evidence-gathering phase of this investigation”.
On Tuesday the ATSB’s chief commissioner, Angus Mitchell, said investigators would examine witness accounts as well as other evidence.
“We know it’s a busy time of year. We know helicopters are in and out of that Sea World helipad constantly throughout the day. So, we’ll certainly be looking at multiple lines of inquiry here around the procedures that were in place and, potentially, what has helped contribute to such a tragic outcome,” he said.
Sea World Helicopters said they were unable to comment as the incident was under investigation by ATSB and the Queensland police.
