Caught on video: News chopper crashes in front of firefighters at emergency scene.
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The video above shows two views of a news helicopter crashing to the ground in front of firefighters east of Perth, Australia. It happened at the scene of a wreck involving the rollover of a truck on Saturday.
One view shows the perspective of the videographer aboard the chopper who was rolling on the way down and was thown from the wreckage. The other is from a camera on the ground. Both the pilot and cameraman Adam Delmage survived the crash with relatively minor injuries. The incident has been described as an emergency landing by the pilot.
Radio communication from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services reveals the pilot acted quickly to prevent a fire.
“The helicopter pilot has asked us to put foam on the aircraft … while turbines are still running. Helicopter on its side – we are taking shelter behind the embankment.”
Mr Delmage says he only knew to brace for the impact because he had recently completed a helicopter safety course.
“If I didn’t do my HUET course and it wasn’t so fresh in my memory I wouldn’t have thought to do that,” he said.
“But I knew I had to brace myself and prepare myself for the worst.
“The way the chopper hit, then it rolled, I kind of got flung out of the cabin and was hanging over the door.
If it had of rolled one more time I wouldn’t be here.”
