2023 Gold Coast mid-air collision
Sea World Helicopters Eurocopter EC130 and Sea World Helicopters Eurocopter EC130 · Mid-air collision due to faulty radio
Event
- NTSB case
- GAA23WA063
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Unknown · led by another country; figures from NTSB notifications
- Event fatalities
- 4 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 13
- Survivors
- 9
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 8
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Charter & commuter
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Not recorded
Aircraft 1 · Eurocopter EC130
- Aircraft type
- Eurocopter EC130
- Category
- Helicopter
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- VH-XH9
- Operator
- Sea World Helicopters
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Occupants
- 6
- Survivors
- 6
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 5
- Route
- From Sea World, Queensland, AustraliaTo Sea World, Queensland, Australia
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Unknown
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Not recorded
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Not recorded
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Aircraft 2 · Eurocopter EC130
- Aircraft type
- Eurocopter EC130
- Category
- Helicopter
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- VH-XKQ
- Operator
- Sea World Helicopters
- Onboard fatalities
- 4
- Occupants
- 7
- Survivors
- 3
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 3
- Route
- From Sea World, Queensland, AustraliaTo Sea World, Queensland, Australia
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Unknown
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Unknown
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Midair collision
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems
- Organizational issues › Management
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 2 January 2023, two Eurocopter EC130s collided mid-air and crashed near Sea World theme park in the city of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The collision killed four people and injured eight, three critically.
Collision
On 2 January 2023, at approximately 13:59 AEST, two helicopters operated by Sea World Helicopters collided mid-air at about 130 feet above ground' whilst one was attempting to land and the other departing from a helipad at Sea World theme park. Both helicopters were undertaking tourist trips for park-goers along the Gold Coast Broadwater, although the operator is not associated with the theme park.
Less than a minute after take-off, the departing helicopter (VH-XKQ) collided with the arriving helicopter (VH-XH9). This resulted in the departing helicopter's main rotor blades and gearbox separating, causing the helicopter to crash on a sandbar, killing four on board including the pilot, Ashley Jenkinson, and leaving three in critical condition.
The other victims were 36 year old Vanessa Tadros and United Kingdom couple Diane, 67 and Ron Hughes, 65. Vanessa's 10 year old son, Nicholas, and a mother and son, 33 year old Winnie and 9 year old Leon De Silva, survived. The arriving helicopter, rode by pilot Michael James, was able to stabilize itself after the collision and successfully perform an emergency landing on the same sandbar with substantial damage. All six on board survived without critical injury; this includes James, Jessie Maya, and four people from New Zealand: Elmarie and Riann Steenberg, and Edward and Marle Swart. Five of the six survivors on the arriving helicopter suffering minor glass shrapnel wounds from the shattered cockpit windshield. All nine survivors were taken to hospital for further treatment: eight were transported to Gold Coast University Hospital and one was transported to Queensland Children's Hospital. Of the three critically injured, all survived, though some with life changing injuries. Ten-year old Nicholas Tadros had multiple severe injuries, ultimately resulting in his leg being amputated; Winnie had several broken bones, and her 9 year old son Leon De Silva suffered from head injuries.
Many members of the public witnessed the collision, with beachgoers, boaters, and nearby police attending the scene to provide first aid and free injured passengers from the helicopter.
Sea World Helicopters Pty Ltd, the operator of the two helicopters involved, temporarily closed after the incident but has since resumed operations.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
Queensland Police and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigated the collision. Investigators from ATSB offices in Brisbane and Canberra arrived the following day, removed both aircraft from the sandbar and retrieved electronic recording equipment.
A video of the arriving helicopter recorded by a passenger, which was aired by Seven News, shows a passenger pointing at the departing helicopter, tapping pilot Michael James on his shoulder and grabbing hold of his seat seconds before the collision. Footage from three lipstick cameras attached to the departing helicopter was examined by the ATSB.
Final report
On 9 April 2025, the final report of the collision was released by the ATSB. The report found that the radio on the VH-XKQ, the departing helicopter, was faulty due to corrosion, and in the previous 2 days the vast majority of transmissions had failed. This meant the arriving pilot did not receive the take-off call; it's possible the departing pilot also did not receive the arriving call. Additional contributory safety issues were attributed to Sea World Helicopters' operations and management, including a lax safety culture which meant that 5 previous near misses in the weeks leading up to the crash had been ignored. Pilot error was not found to be a factor. At the time of publication, 4 of 11 safety issues identified by the ATSB as contributing to the accident had not yet been addressed.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2023 Gold Coast mid-air collision” (revision 1360791994, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2023 Gold Coast mid-air collision
- Revision
- 1360791994 · 2026-06-23 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q115965848
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
NTSB record GAA23WA063
- Event ID
- 20230202106671
- Case number
- GAA23WA063
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2023 Gold Coast mid-air collision" (page 72644698, revision 1360791994); merged with NTSB case GAA23WA063 (events / aircraft)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports); gaps and aircraft details from NTSB record GAA23WA063
- Operation
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): Helicopters of a sightseeing operator on paid tourist flights: a tour operation, grouped with air taxi and commuter. The article: "Both helicopters were undertaking tourist trips for park-goers along the Gold Coast Broadwater"
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia: not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (2)
- One occurrence in two sources, merged: the Wikipedia article "2023 Gold Coast mid-air collision" and NTSB case GAA23WA063, matched by the same aircraft registration and date. For this event outside the United States Wikipedia's values are used where the two differ; each value names its source.
- No bulk values were replaced by the NTSB case API.