Dramatic footage shows 'doomed' helicopter's failed sea landing
This dramatic footage shows the moment an Australian Black Hawk helicopter smashed into the deck of transport ship, HMAS Kanimbla, killing two soldiers.
A military board of inquiry in Australia heard the November crash in Fiji was doomed as soon as it took off.
Commander Jack Rush told the inquiry that the accident occurred because the helicopter had tried to land on the deck of the HMAS Kanimbla in deceptively treacherous conditions.
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They were so difficult that no pilot had been able to land a craft in flight simulators with the same conditions. Eight men were saved from the crash after it tumbled into the water.
Video images from the Kanimbla show the chopper bouncing off the ship and twisting vigourously as its tail and rear rotor break off before it falls into the sea.
The inquiry heard there was no mechanical failure and there were concerns the army left its pilots with little margin for error.
Despite Defence department counsel urging him to suppress footage of the accident, Justice Levine said there was an overriding principle of open justice and the right of the public to witness to the events.
