A TERRITORY pilot was killed and his passenger injured after his helicopter ploughed into powerlines and slammed into the ground yesterday.
The pilot, believed to be Duane Fishlock, was taking off in his Robinson R22 chopper when disaster struck at the rodeo grounds at Mataranka, about 100km south of Katherine, about noon. Amid fears the aircraft was going to blow up as fuel spilled around the scene, bystanders risked their own lives to drag the passenger, NT bull rider Sam Webb, from the twisted wreck.
He had miraculously escaped serious injury but witnesses said he was "shaken" and "could not stand up".
He was taken to the local clinic for treatment before being transported by St John Ambulance to Katherine Hospital, where he was last night in a stable condition recovering with a suspected broken arm. He and Mr Fishlock were taking part in the rodeo that was to be staged in Mataranka last night. It was postponed until next weekend.
Mr Fishlock, believed to be from the nearby Sturt Downs Station, comes from a well-known family in the Katherine area. He is also a familiar face on the Top End rodeo circuit.
Sports photographer Mike Kenyon, from Queensland, was covering the rodeo circuit and was on scene to capture the horror crash unfolding.
He said he had taken photos of the chopper as it landed at the grounds an hour earlier and when he saw it was going to take off decided to snap it coming up over the canteen roof at the showgrounds.
"I'd set up the shot but they never made it over the roof," he said. "They hit these wires and I heard a big bang and down she went."
"I was on the scene in a few minutes. There was fuel coming out of the chopper and I saw two young rodeo bull riders rush in and drag the passenger out. He (the passenger) obviously got concussion and didn't know where he was at first."
Mr Kenyon said the pilot had suffered severe head injuries and would have died instantly. Police, Fire and Rescue and Emergency Services personnel from Mataranka and Katherine rushed to the crash, which happened about 20m inside the gate of the rodeo showgrounds.
Civil Aviation Safety Authority investigators are expected to attend the area today. Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman Ian Brokenshire said it was not known at this stage what caused the crash.