Dreamworld helicopter crash injures five
Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:17 pm
"THE pilot of a helicopter that crashed in the car park of Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast is being hailed as a hero.
Theme park visitors had watched in horror this afternoon as a helicopter with five aboard crashed at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast.
Sato Mutsumi steered the stricken aircraft to an empty part of the car park after it developed problems while on a joy flight at 4pm, goldcoast.com.au reports.
Mutsumi and the four passengers all escaped serious injury.
Witnesses said the chopper was over the crowded park when it got into trouble but the pilot steered it clear of the rides and the park grounds, heading towards a helipad at the western end of the car park.
The chopper landed heavily but upright, then rolled onto its left side, with the tail section breaking away on impact.
Patrons leaving the theme park watched in horror as the helicopter slammed into the carpark.
The wreckage was strewn across about 40m of the carpark.
Four passengers and a pilot were on the helicopter, the Courier Mail reported a short time ago.
All four passengers are believed to have suffered minor back injuries, and some were seen to be stretchered away by medical staff soon after the incident.
Other media reports suggested up to five people were on the flight and that passengers and the pilot were pulled from the aircraft by theme park security guards.
Ambulance crews and police performed triage on the patients, and fire services have sprayed foam around the crash site.
Dreamworld offers a variety of helicopter flights as part of its theme park. "
Photos are here: http://tools.goldcoast.com.au//photo-ga ... ry_id=6015
Theme park visitors had watched in horror this afternoon as a helicopter with five aboard crashed at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast.
Sato Mutsumi steered the stricken aircraft to an empty part of the car park after it developed problems while on a joy flight at 4pm, goldcoast.com.au reports.
Mutsumi and the four passengers all escaped serious injury.
Witnesses said the chopper was over the crowded park when it got into trouble but the pilot steered it clear of the rides and the park grounds, heading towards a helipad at the western end of the car park.
The chopper landed heavily but upright, then rolled onto its left side, with the tail section breaking away on impact.
Patrons leaving the theme park watched in horror as the helicopter slammed into the carpark.
The wreckage was strewn across about 40m of the carpark.
Four passengers and a pilot were on the helicopter, the Courier Mail reported a short time ago.
All four passengers are believed to have suffered minor back injuries, and some were seen to be stretchered away by medical staff soon after the incident.
Other media reports suggested up to five people were on the flight and that passengers and the pilot were pulled from the aircraft by theme park security guards.
Ambulance crews and police performed triage on the patients, and fire services have sprayed foam around the crash site.
Dreamworld offers a variety of helicopter flights as part of its theme park. "
Photos are here: http://tools.goldcoast.com.au//photo-ga ... ry_id=6015
