Australians tell of their miracle survival in Bali helicopter crash

Two Australians have told of how their sightseeing helicopter tour across Bali went wrong and they crashed into a cliff wall after plunging 250m from the air. See the pictures and video.

Two Australians have told of their miracle survival after a chopper crash in Bali where kite strings got caught in their propeller, forcing them to plunge 250m from the air.

Russel James Harris, his Indonesian wife Eloira Decti Paskillah, and their friend Christophe Pierre Marrot Castellat were all on a sightseeing tour when the aircraft went down near cliffs at Pecatu in South Kuta.

The two Australians from Perth, said the kite was around 50m higher than the helicopter when they made contact. It was meant to do a tour around Bali when disaster struck.

Mr Harris, who was on his first helicopter ride, said they were glad they did not get any closer as the pilot had time to react.

Before they got on board, he said “everything was fine” until they hit the kite strings.

“After the accident, everything went so fast,” he said. 

“It could have been worse but we are still here today so we have to be grateful for that.

“I don’t think everybody survives a helicopter crash at over 250m in the sky.

Australian Russel James Harris (in wheelchair), his Indonesian wife Eloira Decti Paskillah, and their Australian friend Christophe Pierre Marrot Castellat were all on a sightseeing tour when the aircraft went down near cliffs at Pecatu in South Kuta in Bali. Picture: Komang Erviani

“It happened fast, it was traumatic, knowing we were going to crash, we could’ve crashed into homes, the pilot did have some control over the aircraft, we could’ve crashed straight into trees.

“If you look at the accident we actually crashed into a cliff wall ... it took alot of speed and impact before we actually crashed into the ground, we take our hat off to the pilot after the situation started it was handled quite well.” 

Mr Harris said the first people that came to assist were the general public and he thanked them for their help. 

Two Australians were in a helicopter that crashed near cliffs, Pecatu, South Kuta region, Bali. Picture: Indonesian Search & Rescue Agency (BASARNAS)

“I’d like to say thankyou to them, especially a gentleman from Australia from the Margaret River there, he was very professional and took over the situation because there was alot of chaos going on,” he said. 

“They assisted me out of the helicopter and got me up on top of the hill and there was someone, somewhere who got a stretcher and took me down to where the ambulance could get to us.”

“Once we got in the ambulance we were told by one of the helicopter company staff that they will be looking after us in the way of medical treatment which was good to know.” 

Mr Castellat said he was looking at the scenery when the accident happened.

The scene of the helicopter crash near cliffs, at Pecatu, South Kuta, Bali. Picture: Supplied Indonesian Search & Rescue Agency (BASARNAS)

“I remember when we dropped about 20m I thought it was air turbulence, we found out it wasn’t ... then the descent took all of about 30 seconds, it started to get a bit scary after about 15 seconds, we dipped down like a rollercoaster and I saw the trees and cliff wall and we crashed into that,” he said. 

He got himself out of the chopper and he took Ms Paskillah and the other passenger, an Indonesian photographer, who was “knocked out”, out of the aircraft by unclipping their harnesses.

It was very hard to get them out at first as they were “twisted up amongst each other”.

He then went to help his friend Russel and the pilot get out. 

Mr Harris said he could not understand why helicopters fly near kites the way they did. 

“It doesn’t make sense, how come helicopters fly in between all these kites? It just seems really unusual but we were told there shouldn’t have been kites in the area,” he said. 

Two Australians survived this helicopter crash in Bali. Picture: Indonesian Search & Rescue Agency (BASARNAS)

Mr Castellat added: “Why weren’t there designated flight paths?”

Ms Paskillah, who walked away with a broken neck, said they might go back to the crash site but her husband Russel cannot walk yet.

He is in a wheelchair with cuts, scrapes, bruises and a lower back injury. Mr Castellat also has cuts and is very sore with a bruised left side of his head.

“We are lucky, if you see the picture of the crash, this helicopter you’re thinking that all of us are dead - and now all of us, we are alive, alive guys,” she said. 

The scene of the helicopter crash. Picture: Indonesian Search & Rescue Agency (BASARNAS)

Whitesky Aviation – the company who owned the aircraft – confirmed the aircraft’s entanglement with kite strings caused the crash. 

“Based on data from our flight following system, there has been an emergency landing attempt due to entanglement in the kite string resulting in serious damage to the Bell 505 JRX helicopter registered PK-WSP belonging to Bali Heli Tour Suluban Pecatu South Kuta Bali which is operated under Whitesky Aviation,” it said.

The National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) has arrived in Bali to conduct an investigation.

“The team will collect data from the scene for the investigation”, the Region IV Airport Authority Office head, AgnustisBudi Hartono said Saturday. 

Denpasar Search and Rescue Agency head, I Nyoman Sidakarya, confirmed the helicopter crashed just four minutes after taking off from the helipad in Garuda Wisnu Kencana at 2.33pm local time on Friday. Whitesky Aviation has also sent an investigation team.

Originally published as Australians tell of their miracle survival in Bali helicopter crash