A terrifying video has emerged showing the panic inside a tourist helicopter as it spiraled out of control before crashing just after take-off in Colombia.
The chopper – that was meant to only be in the air for 12 minutes to transport passengers to a fine-dining experience – lost control and plummeted out of the air, crashing into the side of a high-rise building in Medellin on Monday.
Number of Victims
All six people onboard the Bell 206 chopper miraculously survived the ordeal.
One of the traumatized passengers was rushed to hospital and treated for a leg fracture and lacerations to the body, officials said.
Chaos Inside The Cabin
Now, new footage has revealed the passengers’ chaos inside the cabin as the helicopter spun in the air, before eventually plummeting toward the ground.
Texas-based holidaymaker Francisco Salas, 36, is heard in the video calling the emergency services using a combination of Spanish and English.
The helicopter flight was part of a dining experience offered by Hangar, an aviation-themed restaurant located in the Medellín neighborhood of Manrique.
Customers are charged about $73 for a 12 to 15 minute flight from Olaya Herrera Airport to the restaurant, where they were meant to be greeted with a cocktail.
Victim Impact Statements
In the shocking clip, Salas described the panicked scene to the camera, saying: ‘I’ve been in a helicopter crash.
‘We are very high up and waiting for the police and rescue team.’
After the crash, Francisco said: ‘I had a woman next to me with a lot of body weight who did not have the strength to support herself so I put my arm around her.
‘I used one arm to support myself against the helicopter while using the other to support the woman for around 45 minutes.’
Salas, who was with his girlfriend Luisa Osorio on the flight, went on to talk about how he thought he was going to die.
He called his parents back home in Texas during the ordeal.
The tourist said: ‘I had my phone with me, I made a video call to my mom and dad.
‘I even said goodbye to my brother, it was a very serious moment.
‘I just wanted to say goodbye, say thank you to everyone.’
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The businessman from Texas was one of six people on board the tourist chopper at the time of the crash.
Alongside him were two women from Costa Rica named Sandy Villalobos Marín, 34, and Karen Rivera Picada, 36, and Colombian nationals Luisa Fernanda Osorio and Jaime Andrés Echeverri.
Echeverri, the co-pilot, broke his leg.
The pilot was Brian Michel Álvarez, 32.
At The Crime Scene
Over 70 emergency workers rushed to the scene and helped recover the travelers following the horrific crash.
Luisa Osorio, who is the girlfriend of Salas, told Columbian newspaper Noticias Caracol that they joined the flight to record content for social media networks.
They both did not think they were going to survive the crash.
Osorio said: ‘We got on. Literally when it was elevating it couldn’t do it completely.
‘It started to spin, to spin very quickly and we said, ‘We are going to die here.’
Osorio recalled they were instructed by the rescuers ‘not to move, absolutely don’t to anything, don’t even breathe’ as they worked on pulling them out.
When The Aircraft Plummeted
The aircraft plummeted and crashed into the side of a building, where it got pinned between the structure and an antenna.
A second video showed the pilot climbing out of the helicopter and holding onto a ladder affixed to the antenna.
Residents rushed to the scene and helped the occupants to safety.
The Medellín Fire Department used several cranes to remove the helicopter from the site early Tuesday morning.
All helicopter flights have been suspended as authorities investigate the cause of the crash.
