It has been revealed that two British citizens were among the four individuals who died when two helicopters collided in the air close to a marine theme park on Australia’s Gold Coast. Two British people perished in Australia, and their families are being supported.
We are in communication with the local authorities, according to a representative for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO). In the crash, three additional individuals suffered grave injuries. The UK couple, Ron and Diane Hughes, who is 65 and 57 years old and from Liverpool, have been identified by The Courier-Mail. The 36-year-old New South Wales lady involved has been identified as Vanessa Tadros, also known as Vanessa Geagea.
The couple, who was married in August 2021, went to the Gold Coast to see Jane Manns, her husband Ben Manns, and their kids, according to 7NEWS. In a statement, Jane and Ben Manns wrote, “Our family is heartbroken, and we are currently attempting to contact friends and family to let them know.” Please be considerate of our privacy during this terrible time. She “went tragically too young in this awful catastrophe,” a cousin of Tadros wrote on Twitter. Guardian Australia has asked Queensland police to confirm the victims’ names.
According to the Australian Associated Press, Ashley Jenkinson, the main pilot of Sea World Helicopters, was the fourth fatality. He perished when the helicopter he was in flipped over and hit a sandbank close to the marine park. They were all passengers in the downed helicopter, including the three most critically hurt and the four fatalities. The second aircraft safely landed, although the windscreen’s shattering caused injuries to five of the six occupants. According to reports, they were getting medical care.
When two helicopters crashed near the Sea World theme park in Main Beach, a northern Gold Coast beach, Gary Worrell, an acting inspector with the Queensland State Police, said it seemed that one helicopter was taking off and the other was landing. On Monday at around 2 p.m. local time, when the park would have been full of people enjoying the summer break, there was an accident. Andy Taylor hailed Jenkinson, a parent who had mentored other inexperienced pilots, as a “wonderful mate,” recalling the friendship the two had had while helping flood victims in northern New South Wales in 2022.
Ash Jenkinson, you were a gentleman, we lost one of the greatest legends today, he exclaimed. Jenkinson was described as having a “golden heart,” a “cheeky sense of humor,” and being “always such a laugh to be around” by his coworker Penny Wilson. In Worrell’s words, “the victims were removed, first aid was started, and they sought to get those folks to safety from an airframe that was upside down. The speaker added that folks on jet skis, family boats, and regular members of the public raced to help these people. The video of the incident shortly after takeoff shows that a helicopter was clipped by another helicopter that was flying over the ocean.
Earlier, Sea World Helicopters, a separate business from the entertainment park, offered its sympathies and said that it was working with the investigators looking into the tragedy. The statement read that they, along with the whole aviation community, are grieved by what has happened and our warmest condolences go out to everyone affected, especially the surviving loved ones and families of the departed. A witness named John reported the crash to Melbourne radio station 3AW after hearing it from Sea World visitors. He claimed that workers at the theme park moved fast to block off the areas closest to the crash.
He remarked, “There was a huge, huge bang. It was just enormous. I’m not certain if that was the propellers or something else colliding. However, a crying mother and son could be seen standing next to the helipad. The disaster, according to Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, was an “unthinkable tragedy.”
She expressed her sincere condolences to all the families and individuals impacted by the sad disaster. An inquiry into the crash’s cause is ongoing, according to Angus Mitchell, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Earlier, the Queensland Ambulance Service said that 13 individuals were being examined for injuries. January is the busiest month for travel to the Gold Coast because that is when Australian summer vacations are most popular.
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