Dad Tried to Keep Daughter ‘Calm’ as Helicopter Plunged 500 Feet to Ground. After Crash, She Asked, ‘Are You Alive?’

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• A father struggled to keep his daughter “calm” as the helicopter they were traveling in plummeted to the ground from nearly 500 feet earlier this week in Wasatch County, Utah.

• All four people on board survived, but the young woman Oakley Thune suffered a head injury.

• “This is literally my worst nightmare,” Thune’s sister, Baylee Demars, said after learning of the crash.

A father comforted his daughter as the helicopter she was riding in plummeted nearly 500 feet to the ground in Utah over the weekend, family members said.

All four people on board survived, but the young woman was airlifted in critical condition.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” Baylee Demars told NBC affiliate KSL after learning that her father, Kory Toone, and sister, Oaklee Toone, were involved in a helicopter crash on Sunday, January 18.

“This is literally my worst nightmare,” Demas said.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to People magazine that a Bell 206L aircraft carrying four people crashed near a highway in Wasatch County on Sunday afternoon at approximately 3:10 pm local time.

The Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that local officials received reports of the crash and located the helicopter 100 yards off State Road 35.

“One person was seriously injured and was transported to hospital by AirMed for treatment of a head injury,” authorities said. “The remaining passengers were evaluated at the scene.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading an ongoing investigation. An agency spokesman said the on-site investigation phase has been completed and a preliminary report is expected next month.

The final report is expected to be released in one to two years.

The crash landing brought an abrupt end to a fun outing for the Thune family and their close friends, the pilot and his wife, KSL reported.

Corey began recording the flight on his phone, and both he and Oakley were smiling in the video.

But when the helicopter later began to break away from the pilot’s control and careened toward the ground, the father’s cell phone fell, KSL reported.

The recording continued, and Demas was later able to hear audio captured before the helicopter crashed near Wolf Creek Campground.

“One thing you have to know about my dad is that he was a rock-solid man,” Demas told KSL. “To hear him coaching my sister through this and keeping her calm, they both thought they were going to die and him keeping her calm.”

By the end of the recording, Demas said she could hear Oakley yelling to their dad, “I’m alive. I’m still alive. Dad, are you alive?”

“He responded and it was like music to my ears,” Demas told the outlet. “I’m glad to hear they can talk.”

Nearby snowmobilers, one of whom was a nurse, witnessed the plane’s descent and assisted passengers until emergency personnel arrived.

According to KSL, Corey is recovering from serious chest injuries and his daughter hit her head.

Demas credited the pilot for helping save everyone on board.

Four people have now been discharged from the hospital, which she said was a “miracle,” KSL reported. Even so, her sister’s recovery is long, prompting Demas to start a GoFundMe campaign.

“She worked tirelessly to support herself and this head injury will cause her to lose her income for a period of time,” Demas wrote in the fundraiser. “The upcoming AirMed bill and medical bills will definitely be stressful for her.”

As the family recovers, they are grateful for more time together.

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“When you think you’re going to die, you experience that you don’t think about your possessions,” Demas told KSL. “You’re thinking about people, your family, your friends, your loved ones.”

She added, “My dad said that’s what he thought.”

Read the original article on People