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The Cessna aircraft which collided with a helicopter, Paraparaumu, New Zealand, Monday, February 18, 2008 - Source: Reuters -
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A fatal mid-air crash was a real test for a young lifesaver who
was back in New Zealand on holiday from the Gold
Coast.
Three people died on Sunday morning when a light plane and
helicopter collided near Paraparaumu airport.
Lifesaver Ben Magee jumped one local resident's back fence to get to the downed aircraft that crashed on a residential street about 200 metres away from the initial collision.
Magee is trained in advanced first aid and knew just what to look for as the pilot hung upside down in the wreck. He says there seemed to be no broken bones showing through the skin, but there were facial cuts and bleeding .
Magee kept talking to the pilot to keep him conscious.
"I said 'if you can hear me squeeze my hand'...and he squeezed my hand, so I knew he was responding to it. He wasn't talking, I think he only said he name to the first off duty paramedic that rocked up," says Magee.
Magee knew that you are not supposed to move an injured person but the pilot was moving his head around and he felt it was safe enough to cut him out of his seatbelt.
With the help of locals he was able to cut him free.
"I asked one them to get me a knife...and I just cut through it and just made sure I lowered him down slowly," he says.
Paramedics then took over and the pilot was rushed to hospital.
"I'm just glad I that could and use the training I was taught to help him," says Magee.
Despite the desperate attempt to save the pilot, he later died in hospital.
Both the passenger and pilot of the helicopter were killed at
the scene after their aircraft crashed in the Placemaker's timber
yard nearby.
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