Sea World helicopter crash survivors speak out
Survivors of the deadly Sea World helicopter crash that killed four people have spoken out about the tragedy.
Elmarie and Riaan Steenberg and Marle and Edward Swart, two couples from New Zealand, were holidaying in Queensland when the helicopter they were travelling in collided with another on January 2nd.
Now, weeks after the incident occurred, the couples spoke with 60 Minutes and revealed they are still picking glass out of their bodies.
“I just want it out of my body because it reminds (me) of the day,” Ms Steenberg said.
Ms Steenberg also shared how she knew they were in “serious trouble” when she saw the other helicopter underneath her.
“We thought it’s just a five-minute flight, that’ll be fun,” Mrs Swart said.
Her husband added, “What can go wrong?”
“I saw the helicopter underneath me, and I knew we were in serious trouble and I actually said, ‘Please, God, help us’,”
“And then I heard the explosion,” Ms Steenberg said.
When two helicopters collided mid-air at Sea World on the Gold Coast, four friends from NZ never expected their new year's holiday to turn into a disastrous crash. They reflect on the joy of surviving, as well as the guilt and sorrow they have for the lives lost on #60Mins. pic.twitter.com/MkKFfV6mTW
— 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) February 5, 2023
The couples’ pilot Michael James was at the controls of the other vehicle and managed to land it safely on the sandbank.
They were taken to hospital and treated for their injuries and have since returned home to Auckland.
Since returning to normal life, Ms Swart said the hardest part of the ordeal is knowing others died and being weighed down by the guilt of survival.
"It's the hardest part and it's very real. The question everyday is: why?"
“Why did we survive? We’re just ordinary, boring people. Why us, you know? We’re nothing special.”
"So yeah, you think about that every day."
The pilot of the other helicopter Ash Jenkinson, British tourists Ron and Diane Hughes and Sydney woman Vanessa Tadros were killed in the tragedy.
Mrs Tadros’s son Nicholas, 10, was critically injured while Geelong woman Winnie de Silva and her son Leon, nine, suffered serious injuries.
Image credits: 60 Minutes