Pilot says he escaped serious injury by jumping into ocean when volcano erupted

Mr Depauw and his four German passengers were among 47 people on White Island, the tip of an undersea volcano also known by its indigenous Maori name, Whakaari, when superheated gases erupted

Pilot Brian Depauw giving evidence at Auckland District Court in the trial of three tourism companies and three directors (Nick Monro/Pool Photo via AP)

A helicopter pilot has told a court that he and two of his passengers escaped serious injury by jumping into the ocean when a New Zealand volcano erupted in 2019, killing 22 people.

Another two of pilot Brian Depauw’s joy flight passengers did not make it to the water, were engulfed by a cloud of hot ash from the White Island eruption, and suffered serious burns.