- Two helicopters collided and crashed near Sea World on the Gold Coast, Australia on Monday afternoon
- One aircraft slammed into a sandbank with it’s main rotor and tail rotor both torn off and found metres away
- Four of the seven people in one chopper were killed in the crash while another three are fighting for life
- The other helicopter with six people on board managed to regain control and land and all aboard survived
A pilot is being remembered as a ‘legend’ and ‘hero’ after he was killed alongside three passengers in a horrific collision between two Sea World tour helicopters on the Gold Coast in front of hundreds of holidaymakers.
Ash Jenkinson, 40, was the chief pilot for Sea World Helicopters which runs the tours from the popular theme park and was behind the controls of one aircraft which nosedived into a sandbar on the Broadwater about 2pm Monday afternoon.
Three more passengers are fighting for their lives, and multiple others have been left injured after the mid-air collision – though the second aircraft managed to regain control and land upright with those on board all surviving.
Mr Jenkinson leaves behind a wife, young son and members of his close family as well as hundreds of friends who knew the popular Gold Coast local as ‘Jenko’.
Friend Ritchie Gregg recounted when Mr Jenkinson lent his prized helicopter to aid the victims of the 2022 NSW and Queensland floods.
‘This will always be the highlight of my life and just one of your legacies when we helped flood people. Cheers,’ Mr Gregg wrote to Facebook.
‘My heartfelt condolences to your family. Blue skies my friend.’ another friend Chris Lea wrote.
Video from the Sea World helipad shows a holidaymaker and his young son watching the helicopter lift and then within seconds cross into the path of the second aircraft – with the child asking: ‘Is he going to crash?’.
Witnesses rushed to the crash scene – just metres from the heavily crowded theme park and marina – and frantically called emergency services before pulling out those inside the wreckage.
Photos showed at least one of the two choppers was a Sea World helicopter tour aircraft
Paramedics and police on the scene on Monday afternoon.
Witnesses told Daily Mail Australia one of the helicopters was coming in to land when it clipped the rotor of the other aircraft that was taking off.
Emma Burch, another witness, had the same account of how the accident unfolded.
‘From what we saw one was taking off, the other landing. They clipped each other,’ she said.
‘Massive bang heard right through the Broadwater tourist park then the swooshing as the one that lost control hit the water and broke apart.
‘It’s just awful. Everyone is in shock.’
One of the helicopters crashed into the sandbar, leaving wreckage across the shore with the main rotor embedded in the sand some distance from the rest of the wreck.
The two helicopters involved in the collision can be seen on the sandbank – with crashing into the sand and the other landing upright
Four onboard died, including the pilot, while another three, a woman and two young boys, are in critical condition.
The other helicopter managed to land on the sandbar nearby, with six people on board, some of whom suffered non-life threatening injuries
A young child was transported from the crash site by boat and then transferred to the RACQ Lifeflight helicopter and rushed to hospital in a serious condition
Lifeguards and police officers on board one of several vessels that raced to the scene
Ash Jenkinson (pictured with ihs wife) was the chief pilot for Sea World Helicopters and has been remembered as a ‘legend’ by his many friends
