Chopper crash inquest to look at pilot's cocaine use
A pilot's cocaine use before a mid-air helicopter collision will come under scrutiny as part of an inquest into the fatal crash, a coroner has been told.
Four people died when two Sea World helicopters collided above the Gold Coast Broadwater in January 2023 during the busy summer holiday season.
A litany of factors led to the crash, including limited visibility, failed radio transmissions and a lack of safety protocols, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's final report revealed in April.
A pre-inquest hearing in Brisbane on Monday was told the safety bureau report had provided scope for the helicopter crash inquest to be held at a later date.
Pilot Ashley Jenkinson 40, Ronald and Diane Hughes, 65 and 67, and Sydney mother Vanessa Tadros, 36, died in the crash while nine others were injured in the catastrophic collision more than two years ago.
The pilot's drug use before the crash would be one of 11 issues to come under the microscope at the inquest, counsel assisting Ian Harvey said on Monday.
"The ATSB report includes a finding that it was very likely that pilot Ashley Jenkinson used cocaine around one-and-a-half days prior to the accident," Mr Harvey told the court.
"Their conclusion is that the pilot Ashley Jenkinson was unlikely to have been directly affected by the drug at the time of the accident.
"The word 'directly' is of some significance."
Other issues to be addressed at the inquest would include the high frequency of Sea World helicopter flights as well as the design and control of landing sites, he said.
Adequacy of training, radio equipment serviceability and effectiveness along with Sea World's air communication systems would also be examined, the coroner heard.
One of the outstanding issues the safety bureau found was an antenna failure in one helicopter's radio that existed for days.
One of the pilots tried to make a call to alert the other helicopter that they were leaving but it was never delivered to the other aircraft due to the fault, the safety bureau report said.
The inquest is expected to run over a 10-day period from a date yet to be set.
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