WARNING: This article contains material that some readers may find confronting.
Chilling vision from on board one of the choppers involved in the fatal Gold Coast collision shows the seconds before a joyride turns into a tragedy.
The footage begins with the serene beach below as the helicopter prepares to land, before one of the passengers taps Queensland pilot Michael James on the shoulder.
Within seconds, glass shards shatter into the cockpit when the other chopper careered into its path.
The video ends abruptly, ending with the image of a shattered window.
This helicopter was able to land safely on the sandbar and all six passengers onboard escaped major injury.
Pilot James has been praised for “heroically” landing the aircraft safely despite the damage to the helicopter.
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The video will now form critical evidence to be used by crash investigators in the weeks ahead.
Four days after the tragedy, the rattled Gold Coast and aviation community is still mourning the incident.
Orr-Campbell called Jenkinson a ”first-class pilot, a first-class man and a wonderful father, partner and friend”.
“To lose a man and pilot of Ash’s calibre is shocking in every sense of the word.
“I along with all the staff at Sea World Helicopters are gutted to the core.”
