--- title: "Helicopter Pilot Leapt Into Ocean to Escape Furious Volcano" description: "A helicopter pilot narrowly escaped being badly burned after jumping into the ocean following the eruption of a volcano in New Zealand." date: "2023-07-15" modified: "2023-07-15" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/pilot-leapt-ocean-escape-volcano" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "new zealand" - "the digest" - "volcanoes" --- # Helicopter Pilot Leapt Into Ocean to Escape Furious Volcano ![]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Fire Sale Back in December 2019, 47 tourists and their guides were exploring a small New Zealand island called White Island when disaster struck. The island is the 1,000-feet-tall peak of a much larger underwater volcano — New Zealand's most active — lurking below the surface, which [erupted]() in spectacular fashion, sending massive cascades of smoke billowing into the air, as seen in [dramatic videos]() shared on social media. It was such a forceful event that 22 out of the 47 people on the island died. Others, fortunately, were more lucky. Now, a helicopter pilot has revealed in a court hearing this week that he and two of his passengers managed to escape largely unscathed by jumping into the ocean shortly after the volcano erupted, [*CBS News* reports](). Two additional passengers got away with serious burns after failing to make it into the water. "The water is what saved us," the pilot, Brian Depauw told the court. ## Water Boy It's a harrowing tale. "I heard my customer saying should we run now?" Depauw said in a statement that was recorded just three days following the eruption. "I looked behind me and saw the plume going up 1,000 or 2,000 feet high, I saw boulders and debris arcing toward us, so I said: 'Run, run, run to the water. Follow me." "The minute I hit the water, it went black," he added. "The ash came and obviously hit us and I couldn't see anything." Dewaul recalls trying to stay underwater while holding his breath until he "saw some light through the ash." ## Safety Failure The trial is the result of tour operators being accused of failing to ensure the safety of their customers, as the [*BBC* reported]() earlier this week. [Horrifying videos]() shared at the trial show tourists fleeing for their lives. Since December 2020, New Zealand's main health and safety regulator WorkSafe NZ has been investigating the incident, accusing 13 parties of exposing people to undue risk of harm. "This was an unexpected event, but that does not mean it was unforeseeable and there is a duty on operators to protect those in their care," WorkSafe chief executive Phil Parkes said at the time, as quoted by the *BBC*. The trial is expected to last months. Several tour operators have already pleaded guilty and will be fined, according to *CBS*. **More on volcanoes:** *[Violent Volcano Eruption Triggers Massive Thunderstorm]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()