The broken radio antenna contributed to a fatal aerial helicopter collision at Australian theme parks and resorts, transport safety officials say.
Four people, including two British tourists, have died, and several more were seriously injured when two aircraft attacked near SeaWorld on the Gold Coast in January 2023.
An investigation by the Australian Transport and Safety Authority (ATSB) revealed that one of the pilots did not listen to important radio calls just before the accident, and a series of changes by SeaWorld meant that risk management had been eroded over time.
The accident shook the Gold Coast, one of the country's largest tourist hotspots.
The two helicopters collided about 20 seconds after one took off, and the other collided like it had landed.
All the dead were traveling on the helicopter they had taken off. The other aircraft managed to make an emergency landing, and passengers suffered various injuries.
The ATSB report found that in the months leading up to the accident, SeaWorld had attempted to improve its leisure flight offering by adding a second helipad location and introducing a larger Eurocopter EC140 B4 helicopter.
“Over time, these changes undermined the risk control used to manage traffic isolation…created conflict points between helicopters.”
The aircraft preparing to take off also had broken antennas.
In preparation for the collision, the call from the arriving helicopter was not heard by the ground pilot, which was loading passengers at the time, received it or not.
However, as passengers boarded, the ground crew advised the pilots of the departing helicopter that the airspace was clear. But by the time Chopper took off, the information was no longer correct.
Meanwhile, the pilot, who wanted to land after a five-minute scenic flight, saw other helicopters on the ground but did not consider it a threat, the report said.
He would have expected that he would have been warned by a “taxing” radio call if the situation changed. However, the failed antenna likely prevented the taxiing call from airing, the report says.
“If taxiing calls were not received, the inbound helicopter pilots focused on the landing site had no trigger to reassess the status of the departing helicopter as a collision risk.”
Among those who died were Diane Hughes, 57, and her husband, Ron, 65, from Neston, Cheshire. They were married in 2022 and were visiting relatives after being separated by Covid.
The “fun” couple from Neston, Cheshire had “a passion for life,” their family said in a statement at the time.
Also killed were Vanessa Tadros, 36, of Sydney, and 40-year-old SeaWorld Helicopter pilot Ashley Jenkinson.
Six more were seriously injured, while three others suffered minor injuries in the crash.
Shortly after the accident, the return passengers welcomed the pilot as “heroes” to safely land the helicopter.
Overall, the Australian Transportation Safety Agency has conducted 28 survey results highlighting “key lessons” for operators and pilots.
“The most basic lesson from this study is that changes to aviation operations, what appears to be more safety, could have unintended consequences,” ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said.
“Therefore, it is important to manage changes to the aviation business through the implementation of defined processes so that overall safety is not adversely affected.”
