Sea World pilot, hinterland crash victims share funeral date

The funerals of Sea World pilot Ashley “Jenko” Jenkinson and Gold Coast hinterland crash victims Susan and Steffanie Zimmer will both be held this Friday.

It’s looming as a bleak Black Friday for family and friends of three people who died during a tragic festive season on the Gold Coast.

The funerals of Sea World Helicopters chief pilot Ashley “Jenko” Jenkinson and Gold Coast hinterland crash victims Susan and Steffanie Zimmer will both be held this Friday, January 13.

Mr Jenkinson, 40, was one of four people who died in last week’s chopper crash in the Southport Broadwater, along with British newlyweds Ron and Diane Hughes and Sydney woman Vanessa Tadros.

Steffanie Zimmer, 35 and Susan Zimmer, 70 died in a car crash at Bonogin.

Sea World Helicopters chief pilot Ash Jenkinson, 40, has been identified as the man behind the controls of the chopper, which collided with another over the Broadwater at 2pm on Monday afternoon, January 2nd, 2023.

The pilot’s funeral will be held at the Southport Church of Christ on Friday afternoon, with mourners asked to wear black formal attire.

Susan Zimmer, 70, and daughter Steffanie, 35, were killed along with Susan’s partner, retired skin cancer doctor Chris Fawcett, in a horror crash at Bonogin on December 30.

They will be farewelled at a service at the Mudgeeraba Showgrounds on Friday morning. No details of Dr Fawcett’s funeral have been released so far.

Uiatu “Joan” Taufua, the mother of Brisbane Broncos star Payne Haas, has been charged with three counts of manslaughter over the crash along with dangerous and unlicensed driving and evading police.

Uiatu “Joan” Taufua, the mother of Brisbane Broncos star Payne Haas, has been charged with three counts of manslaughter over the crash along with dangerous and unlicensed driving and evading police.

She was on parole at the time of the crash after spending time in jail for the assault of two bouncers at the Gold Coast’s Star Casino, and was sent back to prison last week.

Payne Hass had no involvement in the crash whatsoever.

Meanwhile, Mrs Tadros’s 10-year-old son, who was seriously injured in the helicopter crash, remained in a critical condition in Queensland Children’s Hospital on Monday.

Geelong woman Winnie de Silva and her 9-year-old son Leon, who were both also seriously injured in the chopper crash, remained in Gold Coast University Hospital.