‘I thought, we are going to die’
Kiwi survivors of fatal Gold Coast copter crash recall descent into horror
Four seconds before her world crashed down in front of her, Elmarie Steenberg closed her eyes and asked for God’s help. “When I saw the other helicopter heading straight towards us, I knew we were in trouble. I thought, ‘We are going to die today, please God, help us.”
“The blade hit the windscreen: it exploded I thought, ‘ this is it.’
“I opened my eyes and we were sitting in the open air. The wind was intense, there was no windscreen, no door and no one shouting. It was eerily quiet. Then I saw the other helicopter falling to the ground.”
In their only New Zealand interview, four survivors of the Gold Coast helicopter disaster — Elmarie and Riaan Steenberg and Edward and Marle Swart — spoke about the moment their “joy ride’ descended into horror.
Their sightseeing trip on January 2 turned to tragedy when their helicopter collided with another chopper as it took off near Main Beach. Elmarie and Marle were rushed to a Gold Coast hospital for surgery while their husbands escaped with cuts and scratches. The passengers on the other chopper were not so lucky.
British newlyweds, Diane and Ron Hughes, Sydney mother, Vanessa Tadros, and chief pilot Ashley Jenkins were killed in the crash, while Winnie and Leon De Silva and Nicholas Leon were critically injured.
Elmarie, a real estate agent and her husband Riaan, an architectural designer, have been friends with Edward, a project manager and Marle, an accountant, for almost a decade after both families immigrated to New Zealand from South Africa. They met at church and live in Orewa, on Auckland’s Hibiscus coast.
The four friends — all in their midforties — saved hard and planned a two-week holiday on the Gold Coast, together with three of their four sons.
Halfway through their holiday, the group spent the morning seeing seals and dolphins performing at Seaworld. Their sons went back to their apartment but their parents saw signs for a scenic helicopter ride, which they booked on the spur of the moment. They thought the $70 ticket for the five-minute flight over Surfers Paradise was a good deal.
The Swarts had flown in helicopters before but it was the first time for the Steenbergs. Elmarie, who said she likes her “feet on the ground” and is frightened of roller coasters, felt nervous about the trip. Her husband, Riaan, an adrenalin junkie, couldn’t wait.
The couples were joined in the chopper by solo passenger, Jesse, — a mystery man who no one has heard from again since the accident.
The Kiwis say the first four minutes in the air went smoothly. Riaan took photos and videos on his phone of the breath-taking scenery, cliff- top mansions and yachts in the sea below. The final video was chilling.
“It is 37 seconds before the crash. You can’t see much but you see the pilot showing us around. You couldn’t hear anything but you see Edward tap the pilot’s shoulder, then you see the helicopter coming towards and the video stopped,” Riaan said.
Edward, who sat behind the pilot, Michael James, said he saw the other chopper on the helipad with its rotor blades spinning. As their helicopter banked left to land at Seaworld, he saw the other chopper take off as they turned towards it.
“I said to the pilot, ‘ mate, mate, mate look to your left, but the helicopter was already coming towards us. It was too late, it was over. I knew it was coming but I didn’t know when. It was worse for Elmarie she saw everything.
“Could I have done something more? You keep going over and over it . . . but it was so quick. From what we know the rotor blades went through our windscreen and took out their rotors and engine,” Edward said.
Despite the chaos, Marle always believed the group would pull through.
“The chopper spun around three times, there was four seconds of panic and confusion but as the pilot took control it was quiet and calm,” Marle said.
The Swarts’ made an “action plan” and checked everyone was prepared if they were forced to land in the sea.
Edward said he had no time to think about his two sons.
“I was thinking if we fell into the water I needed to get out and I needed to help the others. If you are dead, you are dead, but if you survive you need a plan to get out quickly and safely.
“The landing was softer than taking off. It was like some force took us and pulled us down . . . I was expecting a violent spin like you see in the movies but it never happened. The pilot was turning the helicopter in a better position to land, he was very skilled, we can’t thank him enough,” Edward said.
Riaan, sitting behind Elmarie, could only think about how vulnerable his wife and Marle were in front of the chopper.
“A second blade just missed their heads. By the time we landed there
I was thinking, if we fell into the water I needed to get out and I needed to help the others.
Edward Swart
was no front section, no front door, no glass, nothing,” Riaan said.
Elmarie went into shock and couldn’t feel her legs which were trapped in the front of the chopper. She could only think about her 7-month- old grandson, who she feared she’d never see again.
Once they safely landed on a sandbar, Elmarie held Marle’s hand and started to cry.
A man in a jet ski rushed over and carried Elmarie to safety. The “intense” smell from the fuel and people shouting “It’s going to blow” made her panic.
Rescuers pulling passengers from the wreckage of the other chopper and attempting to resuscitate them haunts her. One of them was Vanessa Tadros, a Sydney mother who was on a trip with her 10-year-old son Nicholas who miraculously survived and is now recovering in hospital.
“That was really hard, I later found out that body was Nicholas’s mum who was being resuscitated and died. I felt helpless and lost control of my life. I am a mum and if I can do anything for anyone I would,” Elmarie said.
Investigators are still piecing together what caused the fatal crash.
In earlier reports, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said the two choppers had collided when one was taking off and one was landing.
“From the footage that we’ve seen and from the damage that we can witness on there, it does appear that the main rotor blade of the helicopter taking off has collided with the front cockpit of the descending helicopter on the left-hand side,” he said.
“Exactly whether this was the first point of impact, we’re yet to determine.
“But that in itself has led to the main rotor in the gearbox separating from the main helicopter which then had no lift and has fallen heavily into the ground.”
Mitchell said the pilot landing the Kiwis’ helicopter on the sandbar prevented further fatalities.
The Kiwis are thankful for their “hero” pilot Michael James, who they say saved their lives
“We saw him before we left the hospital and he said ‘sorry.’ We are so grateful and don’t want to blame, he did the best he could and made sure we were all safe. He also pulled out a passenger from the wreckage of the other and gave him CPR. We have great respect for him,” they said.
They also thank God for sending them an “angel” — Jesse, the sixth passenger on their chopper who has since disappeared.
“No one knows his last name. He didn’t have a scratch on him and he refused to go to hospital. The name Jesse means ‘God exists,’ he is now missing and we think he is an angel. Jesse has managed to avoid any media interviews; he is this unknown person,”Marle said.
The Steenbergs and Swarts recently contacted Nicholas Tadros’s father Simon. The crash left Nicholas, 10, fighting for his life. He is partially sedated but spoke to his father for the first time last week.
“Our hearts go out to him and to all the families who have lost loved ones that day. We are getting a second chance and they didn’t, we have to make it up to them. We owe it to them to make something good out of our lives and be grateful we are alive,” they said.
A month on from the tragedy, Elmarie said it will take 24 months and possibly more surgery before she is fully recovered. She wears trousers to cover the wounds on her legs and lower body. The tendons on her left toe were badly severed, there are five deep cuts on her knee and her lower body is full of shrapnel from the glass.
They are lucky to be alive but say they have pangs of survivor guilt.
“We think why us? We talk a lot to each other about what happened. Marle and I are now sisters for life, this has brought us closer together,” Elmarie said.
The friends are slowly rebuilding their lives but are overwhelmed by anxiety.
They have difficulty sleeping and concentrating and are triggered by loud noises and sudden movements.
Last week the Swarts celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary on a harbour cruise and Edward started shaking.
“Any new experience unsettles you . . . you will think it over a bit more before you do any extreme sports or even a simple harbour cruise”.
Elmarie and Marle vowed they would never go on a helicopter again but their husbands say they would in a “heartbeat”.
“What are the chances of this happening again?”