Sydney woman among dead in Gold Coast chopper crash, her son critical
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Gold Coast, Australia: A 36-year-old woman from Glenmore Park near Penrith in Sydney’s west is among four people who died in a helicopter crash on the Gold Coast, which also left the woman’s 10-year-old son in a critical condition.
The other victims aboard the Sea World helicopter were a British couple, aged 65 and 57, and Ashley Jenkinson, 40, an experienced pilot also originally from England, who helped with flood recovery in Lismore early last year.
A 33-year-old woman and a nineyear-old child are being treated for serious injuries.
News Corp identified the Sydney woman as Vanessa Tadros.
The four died when their helicopter, which was carrying seven people, fell about 30 metres into a sandbank after colliding with another helicopter near the Sea World theme park about 2pm on Monday.
Second Chopper
The second chopper landed on the sandbank, with five of the six aboard suffering shrapnel wounds from a shattered windscreen. Members
of the public scrambled to help.
Jenkinson helped with the Lismore flood rescues early last year. His son Kaiden was just over a year old.
“An amazing pilot,” a friend Lucy Rachel said on Facebook. “Always so kind, helpful, and supportive. A true gentlemen, and always willing to lend a hand.”
Another friend, Bronte Starkey, described him as a “beautiful and kind soul”.
Australian Transport Bureau chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said the main rotor blade of the helicopter taking off, which was carrying those who died, collided with the front cockpit of the descending helicopter on the left-hand side.
Herald