Two couples who survived the deadly Sea World helicopter collision have relived the moment a holiday joy-ride descended into horror.
Four people were killed when two helicopters doing five-minute flights over the Broadwater near the Gold Coast theme park crashed into each other on January 2.
Edward and Marle Swart, who had been holidaying on the Gold Coast from New Zealand with their close friends Riaan and Elmarie Steenberg, survived the midair collision.
"It was a good price … Five minutes. What could go wrong?" Mr Swart said.
More than a month on, the Auckland couples have spoken publicly for the first time to Channel Nine.
Pilot Michael James was bringing the holiday-makers, along with a West Australian man, back from the sightseeing circuit.
As their helicopter came in to land, another was taking off, carrying seven people.
Sea World Helicopters pilot Ashley Jenkinson, NSW woman Vanessa Tadros and UK couple Diane and Ron Hughes were killed when the helicopters collided.
Three other passengers were critically injured and remain in hospital: Geelong woman Winnie De Silva, 33; her son, Leon, 9; and Ms Tadros's 10-year-old son, Nicholas.
Footage filmed inside their helicopter shows the frantic moment before the collision, with Mr Swart desperately trying to warn their pilot of the impending crash.
"I noticed the helicopter on the landing pad … didn't think much of it, I thought … it'll wait until we land," Mr Swart said.
"As we turned left to go back and come down to land, that's when I [saw] it took off.
"That's when I tried to reach to grab the pilot, to grab his attention to tell him there's another helicopter coming our way, but it was just too quick. It was just chaos.
"You don't know how to react in that situation … I think deep inside myself, I knew it was too late," he said.
Ms Steenberg said she was enjoying the scenery when she realised there was a "helicopter underneath" them.
"I was looking at all the views … it was all really beautiful, then I heard from the microphone, somebody saying 'on your left, on your left' and I thought 'it's something beautiful!'
"I saw the helicopter underneath me and I knew we were in serious trouble.
"I actually said 'please, God, help us', and then I heard the explosion.
"I remember I just hid my face and when I opened my eyes, there was nothing in front of me," she said.
