Pilot tells inquest Sea World Helicopters had ‘significant emphasis on safety’
A pilot has defended Sea World Helicopters' safety procedures at a coronial inquest, calling the company “by far the most procedural operator” despite the crash that killed four people.
An experienced helicopter pilot has claimed it was “almost ironic” that the catastrophic Sea World Helicopters crash, which killed four people, involved that company given their “significant emphasis on safety”.
Part time pilot and air traffic controller Jackson Simm started working for the helicopter company just two months before four people - chief pilot Ash Jenkinson, along with passengers Ron and Diane Hughes, and Vanessa Tadros - lost their lives when two choppers collided mid-joyflight over the Gold Coast Broadwater.
A coronial inquest held at Brisbane this week heard evidence from Mr Simm which contrasted a damning Australian Transport Safety Bureau report published earlier this year, which found Sea World Helicopters “did not effectively manage aviation safety risk”.
Mr Simm, who has piloted helicopters in multiple states across the country, had claimed in a statement following the January 2, 2023, tragedy that Sea World Helicopters was actually “by far the most procedural operator” he had worked for.
He told the inquest on Wednesday that Sea World Helicopters was the only operator he had worked for that required daily breath tests, and had also provided a significant amount of time for employees to review safety procedures.
“I found with the Sea World (Helicopters) induction process, it was extensive and thorough,” Mr Simm said.
He said there had been a “strong emphasis” on the high traffic in the area, along with the risks surrounding a known conflict point along the flight paths - where the fatal collision ultimately occurred.
Mr Simm said it wasn’t uncommon, in his experience designing flight paths, for there to be conflict points along helicopter flight paths.
He said the heavy traffic in the area, which he said was the busiest of its category he had flown in, was just one of an “endless list” of risks pilots had to consider.
The inquest has heard throughout the week that a call made by Mr Jenkinson prior to the fatal flight that claimed his life had not been successfully transmitted due to faults in the installation hardware of the radio - which the pilots were unaware of.
Mr Simm confirmed he would not choose to take off in circumstances where he knew there was an issue with a helicopter’s radio.
He agreed it would be beneficial for pilots to conduct a radio check once a day before commencing flying - but said checks prior to each individual flight would be “unnecessary” and “onerous”.
Mr Simm also agreed he would expect to notice and would alert another pilot fairly quickly if their radio wasn’t working, given the high volume of transmissions they would make during each flight.
“There would not be a situation where you got to lunch and would say by the way your radio isn’t working,” he said.
Mr Simm said he believed it would be “borderline unachievable” to administer the Sea World area as a controlled airspace as the “workload would be immense” for those responsible.
He agreed, however, it could be beneficial for the area to become a mandatory broadcast area or for it to use a different radio frequency to lessen the busy radio chatter.
A barrister representing Village Roadshow Theme Parks (VRTP) staunchly objected to the inquest’s counsel assisting making “lighthearted remarks” during a heated disagreement over the questioning of VRTP’s executive officer of health and safety, John Donaldson.
Counsel assisting Ian Harvey and other lawyers drilled Mr Donaldson on Wednesday afternoon about his understanding of VRTP policies surrounding drug and alcohol testing of employees, along with their working relationship with Sea World Helicopters.
The inquest heard Sea World Helicopters effectively became a tenant of VRTP after a change of ownership in December 2018. Sea World Helicopters had been permitted to use part of the VRTP site for their operations under a concession agreement signed at that time.
The inquest has heard that Sea World Helicopters pilots still continued to be subjected to daily breath alcohol testing and random drug testing by VRTP following that change of ownership.
Counsel assisting Ian Harvey suggested to Mr Donaldson on Wednesday afternoon, however, that VRTP did not fully detail that policy surrounding drug and alcohol testing of Sea World Helicopters staff until a variation to the concession agreement in April 2023 - following the fatal incident.
Mr Harvey had noted in his opening statement on Monday that chief pilot Ash Jenkinson, who died in the collision, was found to have metabolites of cocaine in his system after the crash.
He said Mr Jenkinson’s piloting was unlikely to have been affected, but the presence of the drug may be a reflection of him trying to deal with his workload and stress.
Barrister Matthew Hickey KC, acting for VRTP, repeatedly objected to the way Mr Harvey phrased his questions to Mr Donaldson about the April 2023 variation.
“There needs to be precision about the way questions are asked, because these are very important matters,” he said.
Mr Harvey interjected saying he would withdraw his question, but Mr Hickey asked: “could I finish my objection?”
“You don’t have to, I withdraw the question,” Mr Harvey replied.
“It’s concerning your honour, may I place on the record, that your counsel assisting is making lighthearted remarks about legitimate objections,” Mr Hickey noted.
When Mr Harvey injected saying he wasn’t making lighthearted remarks, Mr Hickey told him “you did, you just did”.
After several more objections from Mr Hickey, Coroner Carol Lee asked Mr Harvey to be clearer in his questioning.
Mr Harvey rephrased: “You’ve described the (drug and alcohol) testing program and you’ve given evidence at length about the program...”
“The question that I asked you was, is (the April 2023 variation to the drug and alcohol policy) different from what was in place to which you have referred in your statement… before the 2nd of January, 2023.”
Mr Donaldson agreed that the wording did appear different “for different purposes” - in order to specifically meet the standards of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, as opposed to the VRTP’s.
Earlier in his evidence, Mr Donaldson confirmed that nothing had been brought to his attention prior to the incident about any concerns surrounding the “conflict point” where the flight paths crossed.
The court has heard throughout the inquest that an Airservices Australia report undertaken after the incident found that during the busy 90-day period prior to the collision there had been five very close pairs of “occurrences” involving Sea World Helicopters during take off and landing.
Mr Donaldson said he was not an aviation expert, but he believed they would have “looked at those points” since the incident.
The inquest is expected to resume on Monday.
Originally published as Pilot tells inquest Sea World Helicopters had ‘significant emphasis on safety’
