Carrera Elite
Libra
HDF Supporter
  
Glendale,AZ
Posts: 44,127
APPD 5.49
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1990 Carrera 23.5 Classic
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Posted: Sep. 12 2007,5:55 pm |
Post # 1 |
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VENICE –  Jennifer Zuknick remembers seeing a wall of water moments after a helicopter crashed in the Gulf of Mexico right in front of her.
"As soon as the helicopter hit the water, I closed my eyes and thought, 'here it comes, you think you're going to get hit by something,'" she said.
Zuknick is a nurse who was doing some modeling for a speedboat magazine when the helicopter carrying the photographer taking pictures of her and the boat suddenly spun out of control.
"The helicopter was in front of us taking close-up pictures and the front leg of the helicopter hit the water—and immediately all we saw was a wall of water," she said.
The accident happened about two miles off of Casey Key, about six miles northeast of Venice in the Gulf of Mexico.
After the crash, Zuknick and the driver of the boat, Bob Teague, jumped in the water to help the three men in the helicopter.
"I jumped in and swam to the first guy I saw, he was face down…so I turned him over so he could breath. And then Bob jumped in and helped with the other guys, and unfortunately, we didn't have good results with them," she said.
Thomas Newby of California and Mark Copeland of North Carolina were both killed. Â The pilot of the copter, Mark Watters of California, survived, but was seriously hurt. Watters is listed in fair condition at Bayfront Medical Center, but sources say he may have to have his leg amputated.
Federal investigators were back out on the waters Wednesday, trying to determine what caused a helicopter to collide with a speedboat, crashing during a magazine photo shoot on Tuesday morning.
Witnesses say a skid on the bottom of the helicopter caught the water while photographing a speedboat at close range, and the aircraft flipped over. Â Three men, including two photographers, were onboard at the time. Â
"The helicopter was flying in front of us, and something apparently went wrong, and it went into the water," said Bob Teague, who was behind the wheel of the boat. Â
Teague said the helicopter was doing a photo shoot for Powerboat Magazine when the accident happened. Â
"They came a little too close to the water," explained sheriff's office spokesman Chuck Lesaltato. Â
Deputies say Teague and Zuknick may have helped save Watters' life. Â Zuknick also happens to be an emergency room nurse. Â She jumped alongside Teague and helped pull the men to shore. Â
When Zuknick got to shore, she was completely covered in fuel and had to be rinsed off. Â She attempted to perform CPR on one of the victims, but her efforts were unsuccessful. Â
Teague said they were speeding across the Gulf, the way so many crews have done before, when the helicopter hit the water. Â
"The helicopter was flying in front of us and something went wrong and it went into the water," Teague said. Â
Miami-based investigator Jose Obregon says divers will spend the day in the water on Wednesday, trying to recover pieces of the copter. Â
"Once the recovery, the wreckage has been recovered out of the water, we'll have the manufacturer look at it and see what we can come up with," said Obregon. Â
The preliminary report should take between five and seven days, with a full report on the crash taking possibly as long as two years. Â
Authorities say the Federal Aviation Administration has taken over the investigation into the crash.
Edited by Carrera Elite on Sep. 12 2007,5:58 pm
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