04 January 2023 , 13:22
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A chilling clip recorded inside the cockpit of one of the choppers involved in the horror crash on Australia's Gold Coast shows a frantic passenger trying to point to danger below.
In footage obtained by local media, one of the passengers in the helicopter - which was flying in to land - is seen prodding the pilot on the shoulder.
Passengers on this chopper only sustained minor injuries and the pilot is said to have stabilised the aircraft before it came down.
Those inside the other helicopter, which was stationary on the sandbar, were killed or left in hospital with severe injuries.
On Monday, pilot Ash Jenkinson, 40, Brit newlyweds Ron and Diane Hughes, 65 and 57, and Sydney mum Vanessa Tadros, 36, were killed while Vanessa's son Nicholas, 10, was rushed to hospital where he remains in critical condition.
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Video from inside the cockpit shows a passenger warning the pilot of the other approaching aircraft (7 News)Simon, Vanessa's husband, took to social media to ask for the world's prayers for Nicholas - who has had several surgeries while in hospital.
"I do ask that if everyone can please say a prayer for Nicky, so he can wake up and make a good recovery," Simon said.
"He is in an induced coma on a life support machine to help him breath (sic).
"He is in a very serious and critical state. I'm asking for all your prayers to bring my little man back to me."
Rochelle Fajloun, a family friend, set up a GoFundMe to support Mr Tadros - which has already raised AUS$15,000 (£8,500).
The page described Ms Tadros as a "much-loved and highly respected mother", adding that friends and relatives were praying for a "miracle".
The passenger points to the looming danger below (7 News)"We are praying for a miracle that our Nicky... can be brought back to his grief-stricken father Simon," Ms Fajloun said.
Community support worker Winnie de Silva, 33, and her nine-year-old son Leon were also on the chopper, with the lad now fighting for his life in a coma.
Speaking for the first time since the accident, the Kenyan mum said she and her boy were living their dreams by going on the helicopter ride.
But they were only in the air for 20 seconds when she heard a "loud bang" before feeling "shaking as the second helicopter's rotor blades smashed through the cockpit.
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Victims Vanessa Tadros and her 10-year-old son Nicholas"I could see the pilot pressing all these buttons, stressed out – he didn't know what to do. I don't remember much (after that) but everyone was trembling and worried," Ms de Silva told the Herald Sun.
As the chopper nosedived towards the sand, she recalled gripping her boy's hand for dear life.
"The only thing I could see was death in my eyes. I didn't want to see death in my eyes so I closed them and held my son's hand beside me," she said.
British married couple, 57 and 65, who died in a helicopter crash when two choppers collided on Australia's Gold CoastInvestigators have been trying to piece together what happened in the two cockpits.
The most severe injuries and deaths happened in a helicopter that was taking off. It collided with a chopper that had come back into land after spending less than 20 seconds in the air.
One helicopter appeared to have been taking off and the other landing when they crashed (DAVE HUNT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Fatal victims Mr and Mrs Hughes had travelled to the country's stunning Gold Coast for a trip of a lifetime to visit Ron's daughter, Jane Manns, her husband Ben Manns, and their children, local media reports.
“Our family is heartbroken and we are still trying to contact friends and family to let them know,” Jane and Ben Manns said in a statement to Australian media.
“Please respect our privacy at this devastating time.”