<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A helicopter pilot involved in one of Australia's worst air disasters was seen taking cocaine at a party a day before the fatal crash, a coroner has heard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ashley Jenkinson, 40, was among four people who died when his Sea World chopper collided mid-air with another helicopter outside the Gold Coast theme park on January 2, 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two people told an inquest into the tragedy they saw the pilot inhale a white substance they assumed was cocaine at a 2022 New Year's Eve party.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/japanese-encephalitis-detected-horsham-victoria/4cfcd9fc-f3ef-49dd-b9be-c8a72815ba63" target="_blank"><strong><span>Japanese encephalitis detected in rural Victoria</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Industrial oil salesman Stephen Gill said Jenkinson used cocaine numerous times a year and may have taken it in the early hours of January 1, a day before the fatal crash.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Gill testified he entered a shed at the party about 8pm and saw a "white powder substance" on a toolbox.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Asked by counsel assisting Ryan Nattrass when had he seen the pilot use cocaine before, Gill said: "Four or five times a year. Probably three or four lines throughout the night".</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/sea-world-crash-pilot-ashley-jenkinson/e49ceb40-ca6a-4f14-9e1a-7a52a0df5117" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Gill saw the pilot last use cocaine at midnight on January 1 and could have taken it at 3am, coroner Carol Lee heard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Digital marketing company director Ross Meadows testified at the coronial inquiry in Brisbane on Tuesday he had been "best mates" with Jenkinson.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He saw the pilot inhaling a white substance in the shed about 9pm at the 2022 party, Lee heard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I saw a white substance. I assumed it was cocaine," Meadows said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The pilot inhaled a single line of the substance, Lee heard, with Meadows remarking at the time: "Nothing good comes from that shit".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jenkinson tested positive to cocaine during an autopsy, Lee previously heard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was "unlikely to have been directly affected by the drug at the time of the accident," a previous Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation found.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meadows said he had been taught by Jenkinson how to fly helicopters, describing him as a "phenomenal pilot".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He was a very serious person," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/dr-ashley-gordon-killer-sentenced-to-17-years-jail-over-stabbing-melbourne/44bd0c69-5daa-4abb-8845-2e3a34ceea63" target="_blank"><strong><span>Teen jailed for 17 years after stabbing doctor to death</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meadows did not think to report his mate to aviation authorities and did not speak to him about cocaine use, Lee heard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He was his own person. I'm not responsible," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jenkinson was killed along with British newlyweds Ronald and Diane Hughes - aged 65 and 67 - and Sydney mother Vanessa Tadros, 36, in the horror crash.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Under cross-examination from Tadros family barrister Gerard Mullins KC, Meadows said he knew cocaine and flying did not mix.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"An important part of a helicopter organisation targeting tourists is to promote themselves as a safe operator? Did it not occur to you to let them know of this illegal cocaine use?" Mullins said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"No," Meadows said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Vanessa Tadros' son Nicholas was aged just 10 when he lost his leg in the crash.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He attended the inquest on Tuesday with his father, Simon Tadros.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meadows' company had provided social media marketing for Sea World Helicopters, Lee heard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sea World owner Village Roadshow Theme Parks sold its joy flights operation to Sea World Helicopters in 2019.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The inquest is due to hear from Sea World Helicopters executives next week.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><strong><span>Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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