Rough terrain: Rescue workers had to battle through dense bush to reach the helicopter crash site.
EMERGENCY workers will today face the grim task of recovering the bodies of two men, one of them believed to be a Cairns pilot, who died in a helicopter crash in an isolated pocket of dense bush near Rockhampton yesterday.
Another man on board the helicopter, owned by Cairns company Heli Charters, was rescued from the site.
Investigators are expected to interview the crash survivor who, incredibly, escaped with minor injuries.
The 55-year-old man, who had been a passenger in the helicopter, was treated in Rockhampton Base Hospital last night for shoulder injuries and his condition was described as stable.
RACQ CQ Helicopter Rescue Service spokeswoman Leonie Hansen said rescuers were amazed at the survivor’s condition.
"They said considering the horrendous wreckage, this man had an incredible escape," she said.
The men were on a routine flight conducting maintenance on radio communications towers on Defence Force land at Shoalwater Bay, 90km north of Rockhampton, when the six-seat AS350 Squirrel helicopter crashed just after noon.
The mangled wreck is believed to be at the base of a steep 40m embankment in a remote location near Double Mountain.
Paramedics were winched down to the crash site by the RACQ CQ Rescue Helicopter to treat and retrieve the injured man about 2pm.
A Cairns pilot is feared to be one of the two men killed, but the identities of the deceased will not be released until the bodies are recovered and their identities confirmed.
Queensland Police said a recovery team would be sent to the crash site today, along with three Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators and two Department of Defence personnel.
Rescue helicopter pilot Brad Nagy told ABC Radio it was "extremely vegetated and wooded" terrain.
"From the pinnacle where I dropped them off on the winch down to the crash site which is only about 150m away, it took them at least 15, 20 minutes to get there – it’s that heavily vegetated," Mr Nagy said.
In a brief statement, Heli Charters yesterday said it could not comment on the accident because no official details of the crash were available.
It is believed to be the third incident involving a Heli Charters aircraft so far this year, including the crash landing of a joy-flight with three tourists on board near Machans Beach in January.
"The company understands that there have been injuries but no official confirmation has been received and at this stage, we are waiting on a police statement," the company said.
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