The Tribune

By PAUL G TURNQUEST

Chief Reporter

AT least one person is dead, and four others seriously injured after a helicopter crashed at the Baker’s Bay Golf and Ocean Club in Guana Cay, Abaco, shortly before 1pm yesterday.

According to an eye-witness, the helicopter crashed near the property’s townhouses after it was caught by a violent gust of wind as it attempted to land.

Reportedly the helicopter’s rotor blade hit the ground – flinging three of the passengers from the chopper.

The co-pilot was reportedly killed by the blades.

One of the women passengers had to be cut out of her seat’s harness, while the pilot received serious head and abdominal injuries.

The passengers have yet to be identified, but a Florida TV station, CBS Miami, identified one as Jeffrey Soffer, head of top US real estate company Turnberry and owner of the famous Miami hotel Fontainebleau. He is said to be alive, but injured.

Dr James Hull, of the Marsh Harbour Medical Centre, stabilised the pilot so that he could be flown to Nassau by the US Coast Guard for admittance to Doctor’s Hospital. Two of the passengers were then taken to his Marsh Harbour clinic, while the third passenger was seen by the doctor at the government clinic.

Once the three passengers were stabilised they were flown by a private plane to the United States.

The co-pilot, who was killed in the crash, is believed to be a second home owner in the Bahamas who had travelled to Abaco for Thanksgiving.

The helicopter was ferrying the group from Marsh Harbour to Baker’s Bay where persons were waiting to meet them. “The first report to reach Marsh Harbour,” said a local, “was that the helicopter had crashed into a group of people. Thank heavens this was not true, but it is a miracle no one else was killed, because I heard that pieces from the rotar blade were flying in all directions.”

According to the Associated Press, Baker’s Bay employees helped pull the survivors from the wreckage. They were then taken by boat from Guana Cay to Marsh Harbour where they were met at the dock by a doctor and a private ambulance.

“They got into an air pocket and the helicopter went into a tailspin. It recovered, and then it went into a tailspin again and from there it hit the ground. The tail came off and the cabin just went into a spin and somebody got thrown out,” one employee was quoted as saying.

Minister of Transport and Aviation, Glenys Hanna-Martin, said the Flight Standard Inspectorate will be launching a full investigation into the crash. This team, she said, will be dispatched to Guana Cay as “soon as possible”.

Mrs Hanna-Martin also added that their investigation will include talks with the manufacturers of the helicopter’s engines.

Representatives from the Royal Bahamas Police Force have been dispatched to the island.