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SYDNEY - Two Australian men have survived a helicopter crash in remote Tanzania after it nose-dived into an alkaline lake and exploded.
Freelance cameraman Ben Herbertson and producer Jeff Sibbery were on location last week in the nation's north-eastern desert around Lake Natron.
The Sydney residents boarded the military-style helicopter about 10.30am local time on Friday with other wildlife documentary makers to film the lake and its flamingo population.
The chopper was flying about 40km/h at an altitude of just five metres when things went wrong.
The three-man crew and five passengers were in the air only a few minutes when the craft inadvertently descended until its landing gear caught the surface of the water.
"I was filming out the door at the time and I just heard this splashing, and then looked up from the camera and felt us nose diving into the water," Mr Herbertson, now home in Sydney, said.
"I think at that point I threw the camera away and undid my seatbelt and threw myself out the door."
The helicopter was still moving when Mr Herbertson jumped out but fear of being cut to pieces by the propellor was overcome by his fear of going down with the craft.
"The thing is if you crash in water you're most likely to die from drowning," he said.
Mr Herbertson got out before the craft flipped upside down and came to rest on its roof in just 30cm of water.
Lake Natron is an expansive but shallow body of water with a high concentration of sodium hydroxide, giving it the appearance of a salt flat.
When Mr Herbertson emerged from the shallows his eyes were burning and his vision blurred.
"I couldn't see because the soda in the water burns your eyes - it's quite painful," he said.
Jeff Sibbery had a suspected broken hip and the pilot had a severely broken leg and deep cuts to his face.
Everyone else emerged from the crash with minor abrasions but quickly made their way to the nearest shoreline - about three kilometres away.
"There was a big concern that the chopper was going to blow up because it was smoking and people could see flames inside the engine air intake pipe," Mr Herbertson said.
The amount of smoke increased until the helicopter exploded about 30 minutes after the crash.
Locals from the Masai tribes were near the shore built makeshift stretchers for the injured men.
Mr Herbertson and another passenger came upon a local tour operator who transported everyone to their nearby camp via four-wheel drive vehicles.
Mr Sibbery was flown by small plane that afternoon to a hospital in Nairobi where he remains after undergoing surgery.
Mr Herbertson left the camp the next morning and arrived in Sydney yesterday, after three days of flights.
He believes the crash happened because the pilot became disoriented.
"There was no ripple on the surface of the lake so it acts just like a mirror and you've got the heat haze sort of rippling up on the horizon," he said.
"It's quite beautiful but speaking after the event, many pilots say that it's the most dangerous conditions because you have no ability to tell your altitude."
Mr Herbertson said the project, which he declined to go into detail about, has been postponed but the accident will probably not deter him from filming under similar conditions in the future.
"For the moment I'm happy to just keep my feet firmly on the ground," he said.
- AAP
