Helicopters collide outside Sea World

[Brad2912]

Two helicopters are understood to have collided and crashed in the Broadwater near Sea World theme park on the Gold Coast.

Emergency services are rushing to a “major incident” on the Broadwater which occurred around 2pm.

A Queensland Police Service spokesman confirmed several crews had been called to an “aviation incident” near SeaWorld just after 2pm Monday.
 

“We’ve been called to a reported helicopter collision near (SeaWorld) in the past 10 to 15 minutes,” he said.

Helicopter pilot Scott Menzies was flying over the Broadwater at 2.15pm and said the scene “didn’t look good.

“I don’t know what has happened but it doesn’t look good,” he told the Bulletin.

“Emergency services are there now.”

Queensland Ambulance Service said multiple crews were on scene.

“Multiple QAS resources and other emergency services are on the scene of a major incident involving two helicopters at 1.59pm,” they said. “No further details at this time.”

Witnesses said they had seen two helicopters collide.

“Just witnessed two helicopters crash into each other at SeaWorld,” Dang Nguyen said.

Julie Gill said she had “witnessed two helicopters crash”.

[rac2703]

At Main Beach now, emergency services rushing down sea world drive, Police have closed the road just before Versace and are diverting traffic. 

[westical]

Source: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/gold-coast/sea-world-helicopter-collision-serious-incident-on-broadwater-near-theme-park/news-story/8310cdd6954c701887427d191a7d26b5

[Brad2912]

Horrible. 
I won’t speculate or add to the rumour mill with what I have read or heard from some people in the vicinity. 

my thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved including the first responders and witnesses 

[TBoy]

How sad.

Was it a helicopter tour that crashed into another one? If so, even sadder. Either way, really sad that people thought they would go on a nice view of the beach via helicopter, not knowing it would be their last moments of life. Hopefully they are OK.

[themagician]

Such sad news, thoughts are with everyone involved.

Edited January 2, 2023 by themagician

[Park Addict 93]

GCB are now reporting 3 dead and 13 being treated by QAS.

Quote

Three people have died and many more have been injured after two helicopters collided in the Broadwater near Sea World theme park on the Gold Coast.

Emergency services rushed to the “major incident” at around 2pm, with police closing off SeaWorld Drive to traffic.

Queensland Ambulance said thirteen patients were being assessed at the scene and urged people to avoid the area.

 

[TBoy]

6 minutes ago, Park Addict 93 said:

GCB are now reporting 3 dead and 13 being treated by QAS.

Nine reporting that 13 people have been hurt, 6 have been taken to hospital and 4 people are dead.

Edited January 2, 2023 by TBoy

[Stevie]

It's a developing story and some pretty major injuries. You're likely going to see the numbers fluctuate as some succumb to their injuries and all the news sites get trickled the correct and most up to date information. 

[webslave]

Were one or both of these Sea World helicopters?

[TBoy]

1 minute ago, webslave said:

Were one or both of these Sea World helicopters?

Nine are saying that they are both owned by Sea World.

[Vidgamer]

The Gold Coast Bulletin is reporting one helicopter was rising and one was descending and the rotor has clipped. 

[Park Addict 93]

10 minutes ago, TBoy said:

Nine are saying that they are both owned by Sea World.

Worth noting that Sea World Helicopters does not equal Sea World/Village Roadshow, they are a seperate business that license the name/space in my limited understanding. 

https://www.abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?abn=63055890054
https://ultrahelicopters.com.au/

Edited January 2, 2023 by Park Addict 93

[themagician]

4 minutes ago, Park Addict 93 said:

Worth noting that Sea World Helicopters does not equal Sea World/Village Roadshow, 

Unfortunately that’s not how the public will see it 

[red dragin]

3 minutes ago, themagician said:

Unfortunately that’s not how the public will see it 

And when you lend out your name to a third party operator, this is a risk you take on. 

[joz]

I suspect this will be confirmed, but my understanding is Sea World Helicopters has not been run by Sea World/Village for a few years. It's similar to how SW cruises are not directly run by SW but by a 3rd party.

 

Having said that, I think trying to unravel the corperate structure so we can figure out how this might affect different company reputations in the public eye is probably not something we need to be doing at this time.

[TBoy]

Lead story on Nine News and Seven News in Sydney and Melbourne. Must be very serious.

UPDATE: Seven and Nine in Adelaide also have it as a lead story.

Edited January 2, 2023 by TBoy

[Brad2912]

Just now, TBoy said:

Lead story on Nine News and Seven News in Sydney and Melbourne. Must be very serious.

I’d consider 2 helicopters colliding in mid-air and 4 people dying as being on the high end of seriousness….

[Whombex]

Hey mods, can we get some warnings edited into posts that link to images of the crash scene?

Cheers.

I don't know the broadwater islands that well, will this accident scene have water over it when the tide rises? Will make the CASA investigation much harder if so.

[ShakeShack]

22 minutes ago, joz said:

I suspect this will be confirmed, but my understanding is Sea World Helicopters has not been run by Sea World/Village for a few years. It's similar to how SW cruises are not directly run by SW but by a 3rd party.

 

Having said that, I think trying to unravel the corperate structure so we can figure out how this might affect different company reputations in the public eye is probably not something we need to be doing at this time.

Sea World still own multiple aircraft, but lease more from Menzie Aviation. A lot of their operations are handled by a 3rd party, but ownership is still in part with VRTP.

The two aircraft which crashed, are owned by VRTP.

[TBoy]

Some more details:

• One plane landed belly-up, while another made an emergency landing
• All 7 people were injured on one plane, while 3 were injured in the other 
• On the 7-person plane, 4 people including the pilot were killed, while 3 others are in a critical condition 
• 3 people on the other plane were injured

I feel for everyone here. All they wanted to do is go on a helicopter ride over the beach but they got injured or killed instead.

[Moderator]

The moderator team are not here to validate statements, but posts intending or implying that they are factual without links to reputable sources may be removed permanently or temporarily while this is a fresh story. If you're stating something as a fact, then do so with accompanying links/information that backs it up.

Posts of a speculative nature are permitted, but we do caution restraint. Speculation may be moderated while this is a fresh incident and discussion has the potential to become volatile.

Likewise we’re not here to provide trigger warnings for third party content. Nor do we need backseat moderators telling others what is acceptable to post. If this is something you need then you’d be best off sticking clear of an Internet discussion about an ongoing, high-profile incident. 

[Vidgamer]

VRTP Statement

 

Village Roadshow Theme Parks (VRTP) offers its deepest condolences to all those impacted by today’s helicopter tragedy in the Southport Broadwater.

While Sea World Helicopters is an independent professional operator, VRTP is working with emergency services and the authorities to provide every possible assistance.

We are providing support to our team members who have been emotionally affected by the tragedy.

As it is now a police investigation, we cannot provide any further information at this stage.

 

 

 

[Park Addict 93]

Latest version of the GCB article

Quote

Sea World helicopter collision: Four dead, three seriously injured

Four people have died and many more have been injured after two helicopters collided near Sea World on the Gold Coast. LATEST DETAILS

FOUR people have died in a shocking helicopter crash on the Gold Coast.

Two Sea World helicopters collided in the air over the Gold Coast Broadwater near the theme park about 2pm, leaving a pilot and three passengers from one chopper dead.

The three other passengers in that helicopter, a woman and two young boys, were rushed to hospital in a critical condition. Two were taken to Gold Coast University Hospital, and the third, a primary school-aged child, was taken by a RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter to the Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.

The pilot of the second helicopter, which had five passengers on board, managed to land on a sand bank in the middle of the Broadwater. Everyone aboard that helicopter survived.

Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) said thirteen patients were assessed at the scene and urged people to avoid the area. Police closed off SeaWorld Drive to all traffic except emergency services.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said the ATSB had commenced an investigation into the collision.

A witness, Emma Burch, said she watched the incident unfold.

“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.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the incident was an “unthinkable tragedy”. 

“My deepest sympathies are with each of the families and everyone affected by this terrible accident,” she said.

Gold Coast Acting Mayor Donna Gates said Council was working with the State Government to provide a site within the nearby Broadwater Parklands where the public could lay flowers and pay their respects. The location will be announced before noon on Tuesday.

“This is a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the families, first responders and those who witnessed the accident,” Cr Gates said.

“I understand the helicopter service is not a Village Roadshow operation and is managed by an independent operator.

“On behalf of council, I will limit further comments out of respect to the families. 

“Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Queensland Police are the lead agencies and they will publicly comment as information comes to light. 

“I applaud all emergency services for their immediate response. 

“It is now time for investigators to examine what caused this accident and I ask locals to stay away from the area which remains a key part of the investigation.”

Helicopter pilot Scott Menzies was flying over the Broadwater at 2.15pm and said the scene “didn’t look good.

“I don’t know what has happened but it doesn’t look good,” he told the Bulletin.

“Emergency services are there now.”

A number of boats and rescue helicopters, including a Volunteer Marine Rescue vessel, were seen rushing to the scene. QAS said multiple resources attended the site.

“Multiple QAS resources and other emergency services are on the scene of a major incident involving two helicopters at 1.59pm,” they said.

Other witnesses described a terrifying scene.

“Just witnessed two helicopters crash into each other at Sea World,” Dang Nguyen said.

Amii McDermott said the incident was “beyond horrible”.

Another person said their daughter witnessed what had happened.

“My daughter saw them,” they said. “People on both. Landed on the sand not in Sea World thank goodness. Just praying for all.”

Volunteer Marine Rescue Southport Duty skipper Matt Fitzpatrick confirmed VMR had three units at the scene.

The helicopters involved in the horrific mid-air collision were joy flights operating from Sea World.

It is understood one helicopter was taking off while another was returning to the landing pad from its scenic flight over the Gold Coast Broadwater.

It is understood the Sea World Helicopters aircraft were operated by an external contractor called Professional Helicopter Services Group.

Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman Jayney Shearman said it was “a very traumatic” incident.

“Our thoughts and condolences go out to all the families involved,” she said.

Police Duty Officer from the southeastern region, Acting Inspector Gary Worrell, paid tribute to the boaties and other civilians who leapt into action to help.

“Emergency services and multiple members of the public attended the critical incident, those people were confronted with a significant (crash),” he said. 

Jetskis, family boats, and ordinary members of the public rushed to provide basic life support and first aid.

“I’d like to thank (everyone) that attended today, it was a difficult scene with lots of moving parts.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen the images, but one airframe had the windscreen removed and landed safely on the island. 

“The other airframe had crashed, it was upside down.”

Acting Insp Worrell said the crash site was “difficult” for emergency services to access. Boats were quickly set up to ferry first responders and victims of the crash across the water. 

Those involved suffered a range of injuries, according to Queensland Ambulance senior operations supervisor Jayney Shearman. 

“In the initial stages, there were 13 people identified on those two helicopters,” she said. 

“There were three critical patients that were treated and there were six minor injuries. They were all transported to hospital. 

“The minor injuries were mainly glass shrapnel that had come from the impact.” 

There were “a number” of critical injuries too, with some suffering multisystem trauma: “Which means there was a lot of impact to the body”.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said the ATSB had commenced an investigation into the fatal mid-air collision.

“Transport safety investigators with experience in helicopter operations, maintenance and survivability engineering are deploying from the ATSB’s Brisbane and Canberra offices and are expected to begin arriving at the accident site from Monday afternoon,” he said.

“During the evidence gathering phase of the investigation, ATSB investigators will examine the wreckage and map the accident site. Investigators will also recover any relevant components for further examination at the ATSB’s technical facilities in Canberra, gather any available recorded data for analysis, and interview witnesses and other involved parties.  

“The ATSB asks anyone who may have seen the collision, or who witnessed the helicopters in any phase of their flights, or who may have footage of any kind, to make contact via witness@atsb.gov.au at their earliest opportunity. ”

Mr Mitchell said the ATSB would likely publish a preliminary report detailing basic information gathered during the investigation in about six to eight weeks. 

“A final report will be published at the conclusion of the investigation, however, should any critical safety issues be identified at any stage during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so appropriate safety action can be taken,” he said.

In a statement, Sea World Helicopters (SWH) expressed its condolences to the families of those who lost their lives.

“We and the entire flying community are devastated by what has happened and our sincere condolences go to all those involved and especially the loved ones and family of the deceased,” a spokesman said.

“We are cooperating with all the authorities including the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the Queensland Police. As it is now a police investigation we cannot provide any further information at this stage.”

Queensland-based federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers offered his condolences.

“The broadwater is usually such a welcoming place, full of fun and families, but this afternoon it was the scene of unthinkable horror and sadness,” he said.

“Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by this awful tragedy, and to grieving communities on the Gold Coast and beyond.”

 

[themagician]

The Sea World Helicopters website has been taken down