The second Gold Coast pilot who managed to land his badly damaged helicopter “deserves praise” for saving all six lives on board, according to an aviation expert.
Michael James, 52, and four of his five passengers suffered minor glass shrapnel wounds when the cockpit was struck by the main rotor of the other aircraft.
The mid-air collision between two Sea World choppers conducting joy flights claimed the lives of four people — pilot Ashley Jenkinson, British couple Ron and Diane Hughes, and Sydney mother Vanessa Tadros.
The four died when their helicopter lost its main rotor blades and crashed heavily onto a sandbar.
Two boys — Ms Tadros’s 10-year-old son Nicholas and nine-year-old Leon De Silva, from Geelong — were in critical conditions in hospital on Wednesday night while Leon’s mother, Winnie De Silva, was in a serious condition.
Nicholas has reportedly undergone numerous surgeries and a Children’s Health Queensland spokesperson said Leon had been in a stable condition on Tuesday but was now critical.
Ms De Silva’s husband, Neil, stated on an online fundraiser that the family had been on a quick holiday to Queensland.
“Thankfully they are both alive but have a lot of surgery ahead of them which means the family will need to stay here on the Gold Coast and I won’t be able to return to work,” Mr De Silva said.
Victims Diane and Ron Hughes, 65 and 57, from Liverpool in the UK, got married last year and were on holiday.
Mr Hughes’ daughter Jane Manns said the family was heartbroken and still trying to contact friends and family to let them know.
The BBC reports Mr Hughes owned a home interiors company based in Neston about 18km south-west of Liverpool.
A neighbour, Paul Lightfoot, told the BBC: “I saw Ronnie (Hughes) walking his dog the day before he flew, he was looking forward to his holiday.
“He was a lovely fella, he was well known locally. It’s just a massive shock.”
Pilot deserves praise
Aviation expert Neil Hansford, from Strategic Aviation Solutions, told the ABC the surviving pilot displayed “great skills” to land the helicopter after its cockpit had been struck.
“He’s done an exceptional job getting that helicopter on the ground and saving everybody’s lives,” Mr Hansford said.
A Queensland Health spokesperson said three of the six people in the second helicopter were still in hospital and all were in a stable condition, including the pilot.
That helicopter’s passengers included a West Australian woman and two New Zealand couples in their 40s who were travelling together.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is probing the crash, particularly what was happening inside the two cockpits at the point of impact, and it has salvaged both helicopters from the sandbar.
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