Originally Posted by
KiwiNedNZ
...To be honest having seen them conduct faultless flight ops using both pads and in some cases all three pads for many years I am at a loss to understand how it all turned to custard this time...
Having read the differing views regarding use of the several helipads, thought I might provide some approximate relative distances between current pads:
From northern pad (used by XKQ) to nearest of the four newer Sea World pads: ~178m
Distance between centres of the extreme two of the four newer Sea World pads: ~67m
Distance between the southern most Sea World pad and northern most Gold Coast Helitours pads: ~885m
So any range of distances between pads considered to be a higher risk than others?
Following 'satellite view' is from Courier Mail extracts shared by John Eacott and shows current Sea World pad configuration:
Older Google Earth view down to the three Gold Coast Helitours pads, showing approximate distances:
On a tangent, remember the unfortunate 1985 HeliJet reef pontoon accident in which rotors of a pair of helicopters (VH-HIL, a Bell 206L and VH-HIA, a Bell 222) tangled resulting in loss of life of one passenger and serious injury for two others:
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications.../aair198503546