Four men are lucky to be alive after their helicopter crashed in north Queensland.
The chopper crashed at Whyanbeel, about 100km north of Cairns, just before 5pm on Monday, an ambulance spokeswoman said.
The 41-year-old pilot was airlifted to Cairns Base Hospital with suspected spinal injuries. His three passengers walked away unharmed.
"The helicopter belonged to a local company and it was conducting low level vegetation surveys," Senior Police Constable Russell Parker told ABC radio.
It's believed the group had been surveying the spread of an invasive weed as part of a Biosecurity Queensland project.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will investigate the incident.
A similar crash occurred at Whyanbeel four years ago when four people were injured after their helicopter clipped powerlines and came down in a field.
