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Tragic detail emerges after billionaire and daughter die in helicopter crash

Billionaire tycoon Chris Cline was rushing his 22-year-old daughter to hospital in his helicopter when the aircraft crashed and killed the pair and five others on board.

Kameron Cline had become seriously ill while attending her father’s 61st birthday on his private island near Grand Cay in the Bahamas on Thursday (local time), US news outlet WPBF reported.

Minutes after taking off about 2am, the helicopter plunged into the Atlantic Ocean and killed all of its passengers.

Chris Cline speaking at Marshall University in 2016. Source: AAP
Chris Cline speaking at Marshall University in 2016. Source: AAP
Employees oversee the arrival of the bodies of four women and three men, including billionaire coal entrepreneur Chris Cline and his daughter. Source: AAP
Employees oversee the arrival of the bodies of four women and three men, including billionaire coal entrepreneur Chris Cline and his daughter. Source: AAP

Family members alerted authorities when the group failed to arrive in Fort Lauderdale, where the 61-year-old had planned to touch down before taking his daughter to a Florida hospital.

Authorities began searching for the helicopter after police received a report from Florida Mr Cline's helicopter failed to arrive, Bahamas Police Superintendent Shanta Knowles told The Associated Press.

The bodies of the four women and three men were recovered on Thursday and taken to the Bahamian capital of Nassau to be officially identified, Delvin Major, chief investigator for the Bahamas' Air Accident Investigation Department, said.

Kameron Cline was killed when her father's helicopter went down in the Bahamas on Thursday.
Kameron Cline and her father were on-board the aircraft with five others when it crashed. Source: Facebook
A graduation photo of Kameron Cline (right) with her friend, Brittney Searson.
Kameron (right) with her friend, Brittney Searson, who were both killed in the crash. Source: Searson family

Kameron was killed alongside her father, friends Brittney Searson, Delaney Wykle and Jillian Clark, and helicopter pilot David Jude.

The seventh victim was reportedly a helicopter mechanic.

The Augusta AW139 helicopter was still in the water on Friday and based on preliminary information, she did not believe there had been a distress call before the helicopter when down.

The cause of the crash was still undetermined, officials said.

A Royal Bahamas Police Force statement said authorities and locals found the site three kilometres off Big Grand Cay, a group of private islands Mr Cline bought in 2014 for less than the $11.5 million asking price.

A recovery team at the wreckage site where a helicopter carrying seven people crashed in the Bahamas.
A recovery team at the wreckage site where a helicopter carrying seven people crashed outside a string of islands Mr Cline owned in the Bahamas. Source: Krystel Knowles/Bahamas ZNS Network via AP

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