Pilot of Australian helicopter did not hear the radio call

• A helicopter pilot did not recall hearing a radio call from another helicopter.
• Two helicopters collided off the Gold Coast in January.
• Footage later emerged of a passenger attempting to alert the pilot.

According to a report, a helicopter pilot did not recall hearing a radio call from another helicopter shortly before a deadly mid-air collision in Australia.

According to the preliminary accident report, the pilots may not have been able to see each other.

When two helicopters collided off the Gold Coast in January, a British couple was among four people killed.

One helicopter crashed, while the other landed with significant damage.

Sea World Helicopters was using the helicopters for short sightseeing trips. One was landing, while the other had just taken off.

“The report details the calls made by the pilot of the returning helicopter and as they tracked south… that they saw passengers boarding the second helicopter as it prepared to depart,” ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said.

“The pilot of the returning helicopter recalled that the assessment was that the departing helicopter would pass behind them and that they did not recall the pilot making a standard taxiing call, thereby announcing their intentions to depart.”

Mr Mitchell stated that this did not rule out the possibility of a taxiing call being made, and that the ATSB would conduct a detailed analysis of radio activity at the time of the crash.

Footage later emerged of a passenger attempting to alert the pilot to the fact that another helicopter was approaching.

The ATSB, however, stated that this did not imply that the other helicopter was visible to either pilot.

Police said the British victims, Ron and Diane Hughes of Cheshire, were on vacation in Queensland at the time

Vanessa Tadros, 36, of Australia, was also killed in the crash, and her 10-year-old son was among the survivors but seriously injured.

Ashley Jenkinson, 40, an experienced pilot who lived in the area but was originally from England, was the fourth fatality.

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