Billionaire Chris Cline’s wrecked helicopter has been brought to surface in the Bahamas days after it crashed into the ocean killing him and six others on board, including his daughter.
The aircraft plummeted in the early hours of Thursday morning as Cline rushed to get his 22-year-old daughter, Kameron, to a Florida hospital.
She had suffered a medical emergency and Cline was eager to seek treatment for her, according to family friends.
Three of her friends, who had been in the Bahamas on the Clines’ private island with her, were on board along with David Jude and pilot Geoff Painter, the owners of a Palm Beach helicopter service who sometimes flew privately for the family.
Painter was identified over the weekend. The pilot was from Barnstable, England.
Chris Cline’s Augusta AW139 was brought to the surface on Sunday, three days after it crashed in the Bahamas killing all seven people on board
Chris Cline died with his daughter Kameron as they took chopper to Florida on Thursday. They are shown hiking together on another occasion
Geoff Painter, left, was flying the helicopter. He ran Cloud 9 Aviations with David Jude, right, who was also on board
He had a long list of flying qualifications in both the UK and US, according to his LinkedIn page, and trained in the RAF.
What caused the group’s Augusta AW139 to crash into the ocean remains unclear.
The helicopter’s mangled carcass will be taken to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for investigators to look at.
Cline would have turned 61 the day after the crash.
Friends say he and the group were on his private island to celebrate a birthday but it is unclear if it was his or someone else’s in the group.
Kameron, one of his four children, had joined him along with three of her friends; Delaney Wykle, 22, Brittney Searson and Jillian Clark.
The aircraft was brought out of the water by Bahamian recovery teams. It will now be sent to Florida for investigation
The aircraft’s carcass was largely in tact but there was significant damage to its nose
The helicopter took off from Big Grand Cay, Cline’s private island, at around 2am on Thursday and crashed shortly afterwards. There was no distress signal
The helicopter is shown on the ocean floor over the weekend before it was brought to surface
Delaney, who had recently graduated in nursing, was one of Kameron’s childhood friends from West Virginia.
Her mother said she was eager to be on the helicopter with Kameron because she wanted to give her medical care.
Both Britteny and Jillian were friends of the coal heiress from Louisiana State University.
They all graduated in May.
Jude and Painter ran Cloud 9 Aviations out of Palm Beach, where Cline kept a home to be near to his two youngest children.
Jude’s son, Davey, is a professional golfer and he was well known in the area.
Painter lived in Jupiter but was originally from the UK. He was last deemed medically fit to fly by the FAA in April.
President Donald Trump paid tribute to the billionaire donor Chris Cline, 60, on Friday which would have been his 61st birthday. Group was there to celebrate a birthday an employee said
According to his LinkedIn account, he had run Cloud 9 for the last 13 years. He served in the Royal Air Force between 1986 and 1987 where he completed commissioned officer training.
It is unclear if he ever flew for the British armed forces. On his LinkedIn page, Painter said he had flown more than 13,000 times without accident or incident.
Cline made his fortune in coal and was an enthusiastic philanthropist
Bahamian officials said there was no distress call made and there was no official request to fly.
A man who claimed to work for him on the island said he witnessed the crash.
‘Mr. Cline actually…was one of the first ones that came out,’ said Mathien McIntosh.
‘Just then, a kid came out. It was four kids and they were about 19 to 21 years of age, kids in their prime.
‘They had just graduated from college and came home to have fun and then boom; here today and gone tomorrow. It’s life,’ he said.
As the investigation into the crash begins, tributes to Cline – a West Virginia hero who built an empire by mining coal – have flooded.
Among those to pay tribute to him is President Trump who tweeted: ‘My deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of great businessman and energy expert Chris Cline, his wonderful daughter, Kameron, and their friends, on the tragic accident which took place in the Bahamas.
‘The great people of West Virginia will never forget them!’