American tourists killed in helicopter crash near Australia's Great Barrier Reef
Channel: Facts
Date: 2018-03-22

Two American tourists are dead and two other tourists are injured after a sightseeing helicopter crashed near the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, police said.

The crash occurred just after 3:30 p.m. Wednesday local time, off the Whitsunday Islands, a cluster of islands near the barrier reef that is a popular tourist destination.

For reasons yet to be determined, the helicopter — carrying five people — went down into the water near a large pontoon for snorkelers and divers close to the barrier reef, police said.

Two passengers, a 65-year-old woman and a 79-year-old man, were pronounced dead at the scene; a 33-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

The pilot, a 35-year-old man, also was injured, police said. After the crash, the pilot helped remove the 65-year-old woman, who was seated in the front passenger seat, from the aircraft while it was partly submerged, police said.

As the helicopter sank, frantic witnesses from the nearby Heart Pontoon rushed to try to save the passengers, pulling them out of the water and performing CPR, according to the Courier Mail, an Australian newspaper.


At a news conference Wednesday, Queensland police inspector Ian Haughton said the four passengers knew one another, but he did not offer more details or identities, pending the notification of next of kin.

 
 
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Two people are dead and three others injured after a helicopter crashed into waters off Queensland's Whitsunday Islands. Police have confirmed the people involved in the crash are from North America. Report on 7 News at 6pm. https://yhoo.it/2G36DLF  #7News

3:28 AM - Mar 22, 2018
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The two younger passengers who were injured are from Colorado, while the two deceased passengers were from Hawaii, according to the Associated Press.

The Heart Pontoon serves as a base for snorkelers and scuba divers exploring the nearby Hardy Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef. The boat is surrounded by smaller pontoons used for helicopter landings, Haughton said.

Although local media outlets described the crash as resulting from a botched landing onto one of those smaller pontoons, Haughton said it was too soon to determine what had caused the helicopter to go down. An investigation will include the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

“This is a traumatic experience for anyone involved in the situation,” Haughton said, noting that the two older passengers had received medical attention “for some time” before they were pronounced dead. “For those people that were on board [who survived], you couldn't begin to imagine the impact on those people.”