Australian survivor Chris Marrot-Castellat breaks his silence about the sightseeing flight, in which all passengers suffered only minor injuries

An Australian man who miraculously survived a horrific helicopter crash has told how he helped rescue other survivors from the wreckage.

Chris Marrot-Castellat, 49, from Perth was on an afternoon sightseeing flight in Bali on Friday with three other passengers and the pilot to celebrate his friend Russell Harris’ 46th birthday.

But shortly after takeoff there were problems with the helicopter.

Mr Marrot-Castellat recalled hearing “crunching, popping and cracking” noises as the helicopter began to land.

The helicopter crashed between cliffs near Suluban Beach, west of South Kuta, after a kite string became entangled in the helicopter’s rotor blades.

“I think we were out for about three minutes and I felt the helicopter drop about 20 to 30 meters,” Marrot-Castellat told 9 News.

“Basically, we were going down like a roller coaster ride, and that’s when I realized, ‘Wow, this is real.'”

As an Army veteran with helicopter experience, he knew what to do once the helicopter touched the ground.

The 49-year-old turned off the engine and unbuckled himself, Harris’ partner Kayla and the photographer.

“I thought he might be dead because he wasn’t responding. I heard Kayla screaming that she couldn’t breathe,” he said.

The father from Perth said the outcome could have been very different and the group had made “the best of the worst situation”.

Mr Harris, also from Perth, had previously told Nine News that the helicopter pilot did not see the kite in time before the helicopter hit trees and a cliff and then rolled over.

Although Mr Marrot-Castellat was taken to hospital, he escaped with some bumps and bruises.

When he called his family in Perth, his son Jacob said he was imagining the worst case scenario.

“I know he can speak, but I’m not sure how severe his injuries were,” Jacob told Nine News.

“I think there was something that guided me there, because what are the chances?

“I asked Dad, ‘Was it like Black Hawk Down, was it like that movie?’ and he said, ‘Basically, yes.’

“I think there was something that guided me there.”

Mr Marrot-Castellat, Mr Harris and Kayla have now been discharged from hospital.

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