The Gerringong resident, 39, was visiting his parents’ Lilli Pilli headland home and had taken his four-year-old, aircraft-crazy son, Sebastian, to the cliff edge to watch the helicopter pass.

“We could see a helicopter coming from the north, passing in front of us,” Sam said.

“Seb and I were admiring the flashing lights and the beating of the blades. It was hovering in front of us and then it tracked lower and lower. I said to Seb. ‘It must be searching for something’. Next thing we know, it ditched into the ocean.”

The helicopter crashed about 30m off a series of rocks jutting into the surf from the headland.

Sam rushed his son back to the house where his brother Christian called 000. His father Bruce Edwards gave him a head torch - quick thinking he would later be grateful for.

“Dad went out to his car to guide the rescue people in,” he said.

Sam went the other way, clambering down rough steps cut into the cliff and onto the reef.

“I ran across the platform to where I had seen the helicopter go in,” he said.

“The (helicopter’s) light was still on under water. I could see the glow as I came around the headland, then the light went out.”

He faced a series of rocks, split by channels with pounding surf. A strong swimmer and keen snorkeller, Sam’s Bronze Medallion training at Broulee Surf Club “about 20 years ago” kicked in.

He took his jeans off and, wearing his head torch, “swam out, clambering over the rocks and going through the channels, closer to where the aircraft went down”.

“I was yelling out. I could hear a voice in the distance. I yelled, ‘how many people, are you okay? Hang on, I am on my way’.”

In the water was 72-year-old Malua Bay resident and helicopter pilot Victor Hansen.

“I got out to him, his legs were in the water and he was clinging onto the rocks as the waves were smashing around him. I made sure he was okay and he told me his wife was somewhere nearby. I left him where he was and climbed over the top of him to look for his wife.”

Sam entered the water again, swimming through debris, calling out for Helen Hansen, 70. There was no answer and he became worried about Mr Hansen.

“I jumped back over to where he was and looked down and he was gone,” he said.

“I could just see in the distance in the channel, he had been washed off the rocks and he was in the surf. I jumped into the water and pulled him onto another rock. We worked our way up to the top of the rock and I said: ‘Hold tight’.

“I went back out and was walking around the rock screaming for Helen but I couldn’t hear anything.”

The surf and the approaching Snowy Hydro SouthCare helicopter blocked out most sound.

Then Sam saw an “IRB (inflatable rescue boat) pick up a body.”

“It must have been Helen,” he said. “It was probably 50 metres away.

“I swam over to Victor. He was in shock. I was trying to comfort him and tell him I had seen them pick up Helen and that we have to wait for the helicopter. I kept him low and tried to keep him warm and chatted to him about where he lives. He was only wearing a singlet, he had lost a boot and because he was in shock he was shaking. I was holding onto him and giving him a good rubdown.”

Sam praised the rescue helicopter pilot and crew.

“The pilot was amazing. He came down really low, then a frogman rescuer jumped out onto the rock near us and scrambled across to Victor and got a harness around his chest,” he said.

“The helicopter came above us and dropped down a winch and the frogman hooked him on and they both went up into the helicopter.”

No way was Sam getting in a helicopter.

“I had just seen one crash. I jumped into the water and the helicopter was really good, it put its floodlights out and helped me swim in to the rocks.”

He briefed emergency services and then came another critical task - debriefing Sebastian.

“My wife Rachel had got the kids calmed down and into bed so I had a chat with them. In the morning I had to go into the police station and give a statement so I took Seb with me and he listened to the statement. He was fine.”

Chopper investigations continue

Investigations into the helicopter crash that killed Malua Bay woman Helen Hansen on Sunday night are continuing, according to an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) spokesman.

The spokesman said the investigation would include examining the helicopter wreckage, along with interviews and looking through records.

The ATSB aims to release the investigation report within a year, depending on the circumstances surrounding the incident.