Photo: Cairns Post
Seriously injured: Tolga pilot David Goodrich crash landed his helicopter in a paddock near Townsville yesterday. The two-seater Aeropower turboshaft helicopter was stringing powerlines when it went down.
From Townsville Bulletin:
"TWO men have survived a 20m plunge after their
helicopter crash-landed in Stuart yesterday morning.
About a dozen workmen watched in horror as the chopper's engine cut out, sending the out-of-control aircraft plummeting to the ground behind Xstrata's Copper Refinery on Pretoria St about 10am.
The two-seater Aeropower Turboshaft helicopter, which had been subcontracted by Downer EDI Engineering, was stringing high voltage transmission powerlines when it suddenly went down.
Both men were conscious when emergency workers arrived but in obvious pain.
It took firefighters about 45 minutes to free 36-year-old Tolga pilot David Goodrich, who was rushed to Townsville Hospital with suspected spinal injuries.
He was operated on following the crash and was listed in a serious condition last night.
The co-pilot, a 38-year-old Emu Park man, was able to free himself from the helicopter wreckage but was also hospitalised after collapsing at the crash site.
He was released yesterday afternoon.
The aircraft landed so heavily that the chopper's skids were crushed beneath the undercarriage.
Thick electrical cables the helicopter was attempting to string lay snaked across the ground surrounding the wreck.
Remarkably, the helicopter landed in grasslands, narrowly missing electrical transformers, several fences and nearby buildings.
Wulguru station officer Alun Williams said firefighters used the jaws-of-life to cut away the helicopter's controls to safely remove the injured pilot.
"He (the pilot) was encased so we wanted to get him out safely because QAS were worried about back injuries," he said.
"The pilot controls had to be removed to get the pilot out, but the co-pilot was already out."
Mr Williams said the two men were lucky to escape alive.
"With our job we always imagine the worst," he said. "It's (the helicopter's) come down fairly hard.
"The skids are actually perpendicular to the ground so they've come down fairly hard."
Stuart Police Station's Senior Sergeant Ian Wilkie said more than a dozen witnesses would be interviewed by police.
"Shortly before 10am a helicopter was engaged in moving power transmission cables between the transmission towers," he said.
"For unknown reasons the helicopter has appeared to have lost power and has come down heavily.
"The two male occupants were both conscious but they were both in pain.
"It looks like it's fallen about 20-30m."
Downer EDI Engineering is the principal contractor on the Powerlink project.
Officers from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau flew to Townsville yesterday afternoon to investigate the crash.
Department of Workplace Health and Safety also arrived at the crash site to investigate."