TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A helicopter crash into waters just offshore of Davis Islands on Thursday has its four survivors thanking their lucky stars.
“I half-believed that I’m not alive right now,” said Hunter Hupp. “That’s the kind of feeling it brought to my soul.”
28-year-old Hupp, his mom and dad were nearing the end of an hour-long sightseeing tour of the Tampa Bay area with a pilot.
“He showed us where the life vests were,” said Hupp. “We all laughed like you do on airplanes — not going to need those.”
They did need those. The chopper crashed about 100 yards from shore near Peter O. Knight Airport.
“We heard a large, loud pop from the top,” Hupp recalled. “I was in the front. I asked the pilot if we just hit something. He goes, ‘No, but this isn’t really good.'”
According to police, the engine failed, sending the chopper down. Witnesses said it hovered above the water, rose a little, then gently tipped over, blades churning the water.
Hupp’s parents were the first ones out, then the pilot — but the Philadelphia resident almost didn’t make it.
“We were trapped under so much stuff,” Hupp explained. “I had so many cables and wires and headsets and seatbelts all around me.”
But after what he said was nearly a minute underwater, he got out. Two Good Samaritan jet skiers saved Hupp and his parents, while Tampa Police Department’s Marine Unit picked up the pilot. It was hugs all around back on solid earth.
“I thought about my parents floating on top and what they were going to go through for the rest of their life,” Hupp said. “So I did my best and I’m here. And I hope this is reality because it still doesn’t feel like it.”
It was a scary sight to see for witnesses on shore.
“It was crazy. It was insane,” said Paulina Jeczalik. “I’m just happy they got out.”
Jeczalik saw the sightseeing chopper make the rocky water landing.
“We look over and there’s just a regular-sized black helicopter, just flying over us and he’s very close to the water,” Jeczalik remembered. “Kind of just hovering above and just very gracefully just falls on its side into the water.”
Taryn Gardner saw it unfold too.
“The helicopter body hit the water,” Gardner said. “The back propeller hit the water and started spinning. The top propellers hit and within seconds it completely sunk.”
Hupp thanked the pilot for his calm under pressure but says he was not going to be taking any more helicopter flights for a long time.
“To be honest with you,” Hupp said. “I’m pretty astounded that I am standing here to talk to you.”
Police said they will retrieve the helicopter from the water on Friday. Thankfully, none of the passengers had any injuries.
