by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:18 AM ET, Thu March 22, 2018
Two American tourists were killed Wednesday when their tour helicopter crashed in Australia.
According to ABC News, the 65-year-old woman and a 79-year-old man were visiting North Queensland from Hawaii when the helicopter crashed into a remote coral-viewing pontoon, killing the victims and leaving three other people injured.
The other passengers were a 34-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman from Colorado, as well as the 35-year-old pilot, and they were taken to a mainland Australia hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Australian police revealed that after the Airbus H120 helicopter crashed, the pilot pulled one of the dead from the wreckage and a witness jumped into action to administer CPR on other victims.
"The four passengers are from the U.S.A. and are known to each other," Queensland State Police Inspector Ian Haughton told ABC News. "An independent, transparent and robust investigation is currently underway. This is a traumatic experience for anyone involved."
The company that operated the helicopter tour, Whitsunday Air Services, announced it has suspended air-service operations until the full investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau was completed.
"At this early stage, we are unaware of the how the accident occurred, however we are providing the authorities with all of the relevant information to assist with answering their inquiries," the helicopter tour operator told ABC News. "We are working to assist those affected by the accident where possible through the extensive support networks of Hamilton Island where the passengers were staying."
The news of another deadly helicopter tour crash comes only days after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a ban for "doors off" helicopter rides that do not have restraints which can be released quickly in case of an emergency.
The ban was put in place following the deaths of five people who drowned inside a helicopter that crashed in New York City's East River on March 11.
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