Info on Helicopter Mid Air Collision – Gold Coast Australia



(Please Subscribe!) Two Airbus Helicopter EC-130’s collide over the Gold Coast of Australia, resulting in the death of four people.

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50 thoughts on “Info on Helicopter Mid Air Collision – Gold Coast Australia”

  1. I was at Sea World and 'almost' fell for their *special deal* of just $69 for a flight! My dad once said: When it comes to saving money, sometimes it's a bad investment.

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  2. This is my local theme park i grew up directly across the waterway there and I noticed they always take off really fast must be for the passengers sake I think this is ultimately the biggest issue. they always land coming in the way the approaching chopper was coming aswell so left hand seats kind of make sense but they usually don't fly past like that either they don't go past seaworld in the south direction they go north and come back and land usually

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  3. The helicopter that managed to land flew directly over my house just a military or so before the collision. My son loves helicopters, so he shouted "coptor" as is zoomed overhead. It was much faster and lower than usual.
    We were going to take the boat out that morning. That would have put us in the channel passing Seaworld, around that time.
    That piece of water is soooo crowded, it's just luck that they landed on that sandbar.
    The rotor impacted the front right side, even though the approach from the left.
    It did land more toward the roof than the nose. The tail rotor was also gone before it reached the sandbar.
    Such a terrible event.

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  4. The more flights the more $$$$$ and unfortunately when it comes to seaworld the most important thing is $$$$
    Seaworld would rather hire a pilot that can do 20 flights instead of 10 per day. Look at the pilots reaction after he was alerted by a passenger…

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  5. The in cabin footage of the landed chopper shows the pilot completely distracted.
    Rear seat passengers were more aware than he was.
    Both pilots were cowboys both pilots killed 4 people.
    Appalling.

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  6. Only hearing the reason of blind spot by screen Pilar

    Nothing about the fact two helicopters were landing/taking off within the same minute
    That’s why it happened!

    The main reason is simple

    $$$$$

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  7. see on the arriving helicopter how the rear left seat passenger
    was tugging on the pilot's right arm and him look around to his right,
    now unless this was library video,
    might this be directly the possible reason why this accident occurred ?

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  8. I have done the helicopter rides at seaworld it's a very professional operation but is in a fairy small area with a lot of movements but has been running safely for years. My thoughts go out to the victims RIP and hopefully lessons are learnt

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  9. There is a fundamental flaw in having any two aircraft being in the same airspace at the same time. Whether staggering the arrival/departure times, having specific lanes for departure and arrival, having longer tours in the air, or having a dedicated LSO to give a go/no go call-something needs done.

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  10. I don’t know much about helicopter operations, heck, I didn’t know their “standard pattern” is to the right hand side.

    I’m mainly fly fixed wing, though this is a very different operation, I still want to know what is the cause(s) as any lesson is a good lesson for both helicopters and fixed wing pilots.

    RIP to everyone who lost their lives

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  11. Vanessa was a close friend of mine and her son nicky is still fighting for his life, pray for him please. Vanessa rest in peace Beautiful, you were the most kind and pure hearted woman i have ever met. You are with the Lord now, ill be praying for your son and he when he gets out Jesus willing ill be there for him and for your husband Simon.

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  12. As an Australian and a Queenslander, I’m absolutely devastated by this tragic accident.. It is believed that helicopter that was going into land did not see the helicopter that had taken off didn’t see each other due to a blind spot..

    RIP to those 4 people who lost their lives..

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  13. Hi Christy. Thanks for taking the time to put the video together. As Aus Heli Pilot endorsed on EC130B4, AS350 and Bell 47 (another lefthand seat for PIC) please take my comments below to clarify points – not criticise.

    1. Eurocopter is now Airbus Helicopers. Never been called "Eurobus".
    2. EC130 has NEVER been designed or configured to anything other than LEFT seat.
    3. The operational applications of a helicopter differ from a fixed-wing. The H pilot rarely lets go of the cyclic (right hand), as it often requires continuous control inputs, especially when hovering. However, the collective (left hand) which does not need to be monitored as closely and can be held steady with a friction adjustment. So, the left hand is then "occasionally" free to manipulate radios and other equipment, which are located in the centre of the cockpit. So it’s safer for the pilot to take his left hand off the collective to operate the radios. So that's one of the reasons PIC is on the right.
    4. FYI, Bell 47 is another where the PIC sits in LEFT seat. Basic equipment to use on the panel. Not difficult once it's trained and embedded. (see our channel for many videos of the PIC on left)
    5. In Australia, and the standard circuit is normally a left-circuit pattern (with all turns to the left) (See: CAR 166A). Aerodromes that have right-hand circuit requirements are listed in the ERSA.
    5. Last SeaWorld incident was in 1991 from a medical incident. So long history of ops incident-free.
    6. Thanks for stating "won't know for sure what happened until ATSB have concluded their investigation". Until then, a reminder to some so called “aviation experts”, is that in aviation safety investigation its never to apportion blame but as Christy stated is to 'learn and prevent' so here is the ICAO Annex 13 (Manual of Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation) approach;

    1) Analysis will be based on the facts and the evidence, not opinion.
    2) Conclusions will be objective, non-emotional and without bias.
    3) Outcomes will not be predetermined, and
    4) All conclusions shall be supported by factual evidence.

    PS: have flown with Ash Jenko on numerous times. Very experienced pilot, instructor and mentor to me and many.

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  14. An accident waiting to happen. There was obviously no controll of the coming and going of these helicopters both from the same company. Criminal responsibility.

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  15. Surely ATSB will determine root cause within weeks..

    Clearly from cockpit footage, the surviving pilot was flying left seat (pilots usually fly right seat) and by chance, the other helicopter was in the airframe blind spot for the 20 seconds of flight it took for the other helicopter to take off and collide with it. The passenger tapping the pilot on the shoulder made the situation worse by distracting the pilot even further.

    That said, the surviving pilot appears totally oblivious to the other Helicopter. How is this possible?

    Clearly pilot (both) error as:

    1. Both pilots should have known where the other helicopter was positioned.

    2. Because of point 1, they should have been monitoring the distance and position of the other helicopter. No radio communication either?

    3. The flight circuits should NEVER had the landing and take-off helicopters flying toward each other. The circuit should have had the landing helicopter coming in behind the one taking off and both follow a clockwise flight path.

    4. Aviation law requires: ‘An aircraft in flight, or operating on the ground or water, shall give way to aircraft landing or in the final’; the helicopter taking off should have given way to the helicopter landing.

    5. Both helicopters were clearly in very good mechanical condition and airworthy pre-crash.

    Can see Seaworld being fined, and a civil lawsuit against surviving pilot eventually, once the media attention and emotions pass.

    Tragic but completely preventable.

    Let’s revisit this post once final determination is announced and see how well my comments above have aged.

    Reply

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