Witnesses are now talking about Chris Cline‘s fatal helicopter crash while he was rushing to the hospital to save his daughter, Kameron Cline.
Recent reports have shed more light on the situation, after Mathien McIntosh, who worked for Cline, clarified specific points about the crash in an interview with the Guardian.
According to reports, Cline was together with his daughter, three of her friends — Brittney Searson, Jillian Clark, and Delaney Wykle — and another passenger at the time of the incident, who still remains unidentified.
The West Virginia coal billionaire, who dated Elin Nordegren, ex-wife of golfer Tiger Woods, in 2015, was flying his daughter from his private island near Grand Cay to a Florida hospital. The helicopter only managed to go up for very briefly before plunging into the ocean.
McIntosh said he and his brother-in-law started a search and rescue operation, but the efforts were complicated by the fact that the crash occurred in the middle of the night.
Miscommunication hindered further efforts — people on the coast were convinced that the helicopter was back in the United States for at least 12 hours until the next day.
It was not until around 2 pm on the following day that people finally realized that the helicopter was indeed missing, and so was Cline.
McIntosh explained: “It went up and in about five it just ‘boop.’ The light just disappeared, and it was a loud crash. It was a loud bang in the water. We jumped in our boats, and we went searching. This was about 2:30 a.m.”
He went on to say: “So we called back to the island, and they said, ‘No, no, no. The chopper is back in the States.’ So, I said OK, okay.”
The search operation was resumed but only led to the discovery of the man’s body. The children aboard the helicopter also died in the incident that left many heartbroken.
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The man said he watched in horror that they were still strapped into their seats when their bodies were discovered, with the pilot clutching the controls of the machine tightly.
McIntosh also spoke about the pain Cline’s family and friends have been dealing with: “Everybody just was in a daze. Man, it was just tears, you know? It was just tears. Mr. Cline actually … was one of the first ones that came out. Just then, a kid came out. It was four kids, and they were about 19 to 21 years of age, kids in their prime. They had just graduated from college and came home to have fun and then boom; here today and gone tomorrow.”
It is still not clear what exactly led to the crash, and investigations are still ongoing. The wrecked helicopter was pulled from the water in the Bahamas and the photos went viral.
Cline is remembered as a man who enjoyed taking risks and came from humble beginnings. He used to take part in car racing.
