Three people confirmed dead in helicopter crash after wreckage found

  10 November 2015    Read: 1397
Three people confirmed dead in helicopter crash after wreckage found
Businessman turned nature photographer, Richard Green, his wife Carolyn, a graphic artist, and John Davis, a film-maker, all believed to have died in crash
Three people, including a man believed to be nature photographer Richard Green, have been found dead at the site of a helicopter crash in the Hunter region of New South Wales.

Green’s wife, Carolyn, a graphic artist, and their travelling companion, John Davis, a renowned documentary film-maker were killed, according to Fairfax Media.

The wreckage of the helicopter, which had gone missing on Saturday evening, was found on Monday night in the Watagans national park, south of Cessnock.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority says no survivors were found at the crash site, which is in mountainous terrain and covered with dense vegetation.

A paramedic confirmed there were no survivors after being winched down to the crash site in the Watagans National Park, south of Cessnock.

No mayday call or emergency beacon signal was detected before the crash, a spokeswoman said in a statement.

The helicopter, believed to be owned by Green, left Breeza, south of Tamworth, on Saturday evening.

Green was headed towards northern Sydney after attending a protest against Shenhua’s mega coal proposal on the Liverpool Plains.

Farmer Andrew Pursehouse, from Breeza Station, said Green had wanted to fly over Whitehaven Coal’s Werris Creek coalmine on the way to Sydney.

Dr Brian Spies, a friend of Davis’s, said the three had planned the flight to capture footage to use in a documentary about the environmental toll of the open-cut coalmines of the Liverpool Plains.

According to the biography on his website, Green built a successful business in the UK specialising in computer graphics before retiring early in 1987 and moving to Australia.

He obtained a helicopter pilot licence and began travelling across the country as a wilderness photographer with Carolyn.

“For over 20 years we have made regular helicopter trips together and photographically recorded some of the continent’s most remote, wild and beautiful environments,” Green said.

“This allows me to remain in situ to take my photographs in the warm light of dawn or sunset.”

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