Cabin video shows moments before Sea World Helicopters crash

A video filmed inside one of the helicopters involved in a mid-air collision on the Gold Coast on Monday seemingly shows a passenger trying to warn the pilot of impending danger in the seconds before the crash that killed four people.

The video, obtained by 7News, was filmed by a tourist who survived the crash above the Gold Coast Broadwater on Monday afternoon.

It captures a passenger tapping the pilot, Michael James, on the shoulder before the other helicopter’s rotor blades impacted with the cockpit’s windscreen. The passenger is then seen to grip the pilot’s seat.

The helicopter and another collided a moment later, killing a UK couple and two Australians on the other aircraft.

James managed to land his helicopter on to a sandbank - which experts and investigators have described as an incredible feat that saved the lives of the group of six New Zealand tourists on board.

Five of the six people on board the descending helicopter suffered minor injuries while, beyond the fatalities, three other people on board the other aircraft were badly injured, crashed to earth.

John Orr-Campbell, Director and owner of Sea World Helicopters, the operator of both craft, said he and his staff were “gutted to the core” over death of its Chief Pilot Ash Jenkinson in the incident.

He said his team was also mourning “the loss of his passengers and cannot imagine the terrible sadness their families and loved ones must be feeling.”

Orr-Campbell today advised that Jenkinson performed his first flight in May 2007 and eventually became Chief Pilot in 2019, “overseeing all aspects of safety and flight operations.”

7NEWS has obtained vision that was filmed on board one of the helicopters involved in this week's deadly collision on the Gold Coast. The video shows one of the passengers tapping the pilot on his shoulder to warn him. https://t.co/OF81oZXOfr #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/6U7wyO0VhM

— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) January 4, 2023

In a statement, Orr-Campbell explained “I knew Ash personally for nine years. He was a fine man and a standout pilot with 6,210 hours of flying to his name.

“To lose a man and a pilot of Ash’s calibre is shocking in every sense of the word … my heart aches as I think of Ash’s fiancee Kosha and his one-year-old son Kayden.”

Orr-Campbell said Jenkinson had run scenic flights in the Northern Territory, mentoring several up-and-coming pilots, until the end of September 2011.

He also dedicated more than 700 hours to assist in search and rescue flights in the area and firefighting operations

Investigating the cause of the crash, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is understood to be examining witness accounts as well as other evidence including the situation in the two cockpits prior to the incident.

ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell told reporters on Wednesday “what we do need to know now is what was occurring inside those two cockpits at the time.”

Image: A screengrab from a video obtained by 7News shows a passenger gripping a helicopter pilot’s chair shortly before a mid-air collision that resulted in the deaths of four people. Credit: 7News.