Bali helicopter crash: Australian survivor Chris Marrot-Castellat breaks silence during sightseeing flight where everyone on board escaped with minor injuries

An Australian who miraculously survived a horrific helicopter crash has told how he helped pull other survivors from the wreckage.

Chris Marrot-Castellat, 49, from Perth, was on an afternoon flight to Bali on Friday with three other passengers and the pilot to celebrate his friend Russell Harris’ 46th birthday.

But the helicopter ran into trouble shortly after take-off.

Mr Marrot-Castellat recalled hearing ‘popping, thumping and cracking’ noises as the helicopter began to descend.

The helicopter crashed between cliffs at Suluban Beach, west of South Kuta, after a kite’s rope became entangled in the plane’s rotor blades.

“I think we flew for about three minutes and I felt the helicopter descend about 20 to 30 metres,” Mr Marrot-Castellat said. 9 News.

‘It was actually kind of a rollercoaster ride down and then I realized, “Wow, this is real.”‘

As a war veteran with helicopter experience, he knew what to do once the helicopter hit the ground.

Chris Marrot-Castellat, 49, from Perth (pictured) was in the helicopter in Bali on Friday celebrating his friend’s birthday when it crashed

The 49-year-old man turned off the engine and freed himself, Mr Harris’ partner Kayla, and the photographer.

“I thought he might be dead because there was no response from him. I heard Kayla screaming that she couldn’t breathe,” he said.

According to the Perth father, the outcome could have been very different, but the group made ‘the best of the worst situation’.

Mr Harris, also from Perth, previously told Nine News the helicopter pilot did not see the airman in time before the helicopter hit trees and a cliff and then flipped over.

Although Mr Marrot-Castellat was rushed to hospital, he escaped with some bumps and bruises.

The Perth father (pictured bottom right with his friend Russell Harris) managed to escape the crash without serious injuries

The helicopter crashed between cliffs after a pilot became stuck in the rotor blades (photo from the crash scene)

When he called his family in Perth, his son Jacob said he imagined the worst-case scenario.

“I know he can talk but I don’t know how serious his injuries are,” Jacob told Nine News.

‘I believe there was something that determined that, because what are the chances?

“I asked my dad, ‘Was it like Black Hawk Down, was it like that movie?’ and he said, ‘Yes, actually.’

“I believe there was something that determined that.”

Mr Marrot-Castellat, Mr Harris and Kayla have now been discharged from hospital.