REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Thursday June 11, 2009

A PILOT was hailed a hero for guiding his crippled helicopter away from crowds at Dreamworld before it crashed in a carpark, slightly injuring four passengers. Authorities launched an investigation into how the aircraft came to lose power before crash landing and coming to rest on its side at the theme park about 3.55pm.

Emergency services personnel said the Bell Jet Ranger 206 helicopter containing Japanese pilot Mutsumi Sato and four

Taiwanese tourists – three men and a woman – was returning to the theme park from a short joy flight when trouble struck.

Witnesses described their horror at seeing the helicopter rapidly lose altitude and head towards them.

Calling on more than 8500 hours of flying experience, veteran pilot Mr Matsumi somehow managed to steer the powerless helicopter to a deserted section of carpark for the crash landing.

In the process, he avoided hitting hundreds of visitors in the popular theme park and kept clear of famous attractions including The Giant Drop, Tower of Terror, The Claw, Wipeout, Mick Doohan’s Motor Coaster and Tiger Island.

Jamie Warde, a Country Fire Authority member from Victoria, was sitting at a bus stop in the northwestern corner of the theme park when he saw the chopper go down. "I saw it coming over the trees," he said.

"It was coming in quite quick and it was amazing how low it was. It was making no noise so I guess it had lost power."

Mr Warde said instinct kicked in when he saw the aircraft lose its tail rotor before flipping on to its side.