Out of control ... The moment a gust of wind throws off a helicopter trying to land on Treasure Island. Image courtesy of Yang Yang/Facebook
AN Australian man was among tourists who watched in horror as a helicopter spun out of control while trying to land on a Fiji island.
Bob Carroll was dining only 50 metres from the Treasure Island helipad when a Eurocopter AS350 trying to land was pushed into a tree by a powerful gust.
Video captured by another tourist shows the horrifying moment the chopper spins out of control and crashes.
Yang Yang, from Kunming in China, posted the daramtic footage on her Facebook page.
“Crash that took place yesterday in the Treasure Islands of Fiji, just 5 metres away from the helicopter, you cannot imagine what we have experienced,” Yang wrote in Chinese.
Tourists walk away from helicopter crash at Fiji resort0:29
A tourist at Fiji?s Treasure Island Resort recorded the moment a helicopter carrying seven people crashed into a tree while landing. Incredibly, the six passengers and pilot walked away from the crash unharmed. Courtesy: Facebook/Yang Yang
All seven people on board the helicopter — including the pilot — amazingly walked away unscathed.
In a post on his Facebook page, Carroll described how the chopper crashed into another tree near a resort pool.
“A beautiful day trip to Treasure Island changed dramatically as an inbound helicopter attempting to land on the Treasure Island helipad only 50m from where we were dining caught a wind gust that sent it into a tree and then crashing into another tree right next to the pool.”
Carroll was on a day trip to Treasure Island, just to the west of the main Fiji island.
“Holy Shit !! Bizarreo and freaky and scary but thank God all got out of the chopper and we are all OK. I can feel another Fiji Bitter coming on,” Carroll concluded.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji (CAAF) declared the incident an accident.