Originally Posted by
helispotter
So sad that this has occurred on what were presumably both routine joyflights completed safely thousands of times beforehand. I have been thinking about it since watching the footage. Both helicopters are quite dark. There may have been little relative movement of the one departing for the pilot of the one approaching from above. So perhaps difficult to see? The earlier Sea World Long Ranger / Jet Ranger scheme of blue stripes on a white fuselage may have been easier to spot? Footage of firefighting helicopters shows that in some cases, aside from strobing lights, they also have upper sides of rotors painted in contrasting light and dark colours (eg: one blade white, other black), which then become quite visible in flight for any helicopter overhead.
There is one aerial pic of the scene where you can see one of the 130 from above. Main rotor
blades are with white markings
skadi