Witness: ‘Just fell out of the sky’

A witness of the Sea World helicopter crash says she is still haunted by the moment of the collision a year later.

Blue Mountains resident Amii McDermott was enjoying a Gold Coast holiday on January 2 when the unthinkable occurred in front of her eyes.

Ms McDermott was at Sea World waiting in line for the Vortex ride when she heard the noise of a helicopter’s rotors and looked up.

She recalled a loud bang as the two choppers collided and fell from the sky.

”(Then there) was silence and when people realised what was happening, you could hear people say, ‘Oh, my God,’ and then it just fell out of the sky so fast,” she said.

“When the tail snapped and it fell, it was out of the sky immediately.

“I’ve never seen anything fall so quickly in my life while the second one just kind of wavered and then kind of fell out of sight.

“And then it was the same thing, silence again.”

“There was the whirring of the engine as the other one was trying to move out of the way and land.”

The NSW mother said her mind returned to the events of January 2 every time she heard a helicopter fly past.

“We live in the mountains, and there are always helicopters going over for different reasons,” she said.

“There was one that went over the other day really low over our house searching for someone and straight away.

“Unless I absolutely have to, I will never get on a helicopter.”

Ms McDermott said it had been a long process moving past it.

“When it first happens, you think about it all the time and every day and then you get on with your life,” she said.

“Every now and then I’ll think about it and go, ‘oh, yeah’ but then, yeah, as soon as you hear or see a helicopter, even in a movie, (it comes back).

“I don’t necessarily go through the whole situation, but straight away just get that body tense.

“There’s just something in your brain that’s just like, No. No’.”