'She was screaming': Tearful father of man who is feared dead after the helicopter he was in crashed into choppy seas reveals the moment his wife was told of the horror accident
- Four passengers and their experienced pilot are presumed dead in crash
- Family of one of the passengers say he was on his way to Sydney for a night out
- Three of the men who were on the aircraft were said to be good friends
- Sister of woman on board with her fiance say they don't know why she was there
- Pilot David Kerr had restored the army-green Vietnam War-era aircraft himself
- Aviation experts say Mr Kerr may have become disoriented by the strong winds
Jamie Ogden (pictured) is one of five people presumed dead
The father of a man who is feared dead after the helicopter he was in crashed into choppy waters has spoken out.
Jamie Ogden is one of five people presumed dead after the Vietnam War era Bell UH-1H helicopter the group was travelling in plunged into the ocean near Newcastle on Friday.
Mr Ogden's father Graham attended the scene, where he told reporters of the moment his disabled wife answered the phone and received the news that their son was missing.
'She was devastated. I was trying to get out of her what was going on because I couldn't understand her because she was screaming and bawling and everything,' he said.
Mr Ogden, Grant Kuhnemann and pilot David Kerr were reportedly longtime friends who were travelling from their homes in Brisbane to Sydney for a night out, Gold Coast Bulletin reported.
Sydney-based Jocelyn Villanueva and her fiance Gregory Miller were also on board, though Ms Villanueva said they have no idea why they were on the flight.
The group disappeared near Anna Bay in Port Stephens at about 6.30pm, and air traffic control indicated the aircraft rapidly lost altitude as contact was lost.
Mr Kerr was an experienced pilot and regularly took the helicopter out, but it is believed he may have become disorientated amid poor weather conditions and destructive winds.
David Kerr (pictured) was the pilot of the 'Huey' helicopter that has been found in the ocean off the New South Wales coast
Rescue helicopters (pictured) were deployed form Friday afternoon to help search for the victims
Darren Ogden, Mr Ogden's brother, told the publication the best hope for his family was to recover his brother's body at this stage.
'No miracle is going to happen,' he said yesterday in Newcastle.
'The only thing I've been thinking about is, when they were going down, what was going through his mind and what was happening.
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Darren said his brother, a former police detective turned financial planner, had expressed his excitement about his short trip to Sydney with mates.
Mr Ogden is believed to be a single father to Ben and Steph, who are in their teens, The Courier Mail reported.
Jamie Ogden (pictured) was on his way to Sydney for a night out with friends when the aircraft crashed
Ms Villanueva (left) and her partner Gregory Miller (right) were also on board the Bell UH-1H helicopter from Brisbane on Friday
The NSW Police Force is leading the recovery operation after the search and rescue effort was suspended on Saturday afternoon.
Debris from the helicopter was first spotted on Friday night, and most of the wreckage had been uncovered by Saturday.
A Westpac rescue helicopter spotted the main airframe of the aircraft about 9:30am roughly eight kilometres south of Fingal Bay.
They watched as it sunk before boats could retrieve it. The location was consistent with where the aircraft is believed to have crashed.
'There have been no sightings of the occupants of the helicopter,' the AMSA said in a statement.
Mr Kerr had restored the army-green Vietnam War-era aircraft nicknamed 'Huey' himself, and allowed it to be used in movies.
Huey, the Bell UH-1H helicopter (pictured) has been found eight kilometres offshore form Fingal Bay NSW
He was an experienced pilot who owned and operated Brisbane Helicopters from Archerfield Airport.
Mr Kerr had recently advertised the 53-year-old helicopter for sale, but Warbird Aviation pilot Kim Rolph-Smith said the aircraft was in good condition.
'It was flown regularly; I would be very surprised if there was anything wrong with it,' Mr Rolph-Smith said.
'He was a very confident pilot.'
Flight tracking data has indicated the helicopter was travelling at 70 knots and 3500ft before falling at 154 knots.
Ms Villanueva's sister, Athena Rob, previously expressed her sorrow after she learned of the crash.
'I cannot say why they were on that flight. I'm so broken,' she told the Sunday Telegraph.
Ms Rob said her sister and her partner were a loving couple.
'They were a beautiful couple. I'm proud of who they were and what they did. Greg was a warrant officer with the Australian Defence Force at Holsworthy and Jocelyn was a government worker with (Australian Securities and Investments Commission),' she said.
Grant Kuhnemann was also on the flight and reportedly good friends with the pilot
The helicopter fell off the radar near Anna Bay off NSW coast (pictured) on its way to Sydney
- No survivors: Five people die in helicopter crash off Anna Bay
- Nine News Sydney on Twitter: "The search for a helicopter that crashed of the coast of New South Wales has been suspended, as all five people on board feared dead. @RuthWW #9News¿ https://t.co/5WxFbXUOUK"
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