Arrowtown helicopter pilot and businessman Mark Cotton had only a split second to think when his $750,000 Hughes 500 helicopter suddenly lost height and hit the water in a remote area near the mouth of Milford Sound this week.
He had managed to slow the helicopter's descent by auto-rotation, an emergency manoeuvre which keeps the blade spinning despite loss of engine power.
And, at the last moment, he had also "flared" the machine, lifting the nose to soften the impact.
As he plummeted about 300m, he had also turned the machine towards the side of the sound.
"You've got no time ... It all happens in seconds."
Asked how he had survived, he said: "It's all in the training."
After extracting himself unhurt from the helicopter, which subsequently sank, about 4.45pm on Wednesday, he then swam about 20m to safety at the edge of the coast.
"Luckily, it didn't happen earlier."
If his machine had gone down in the middle of the sound, he might not have lived, he said.
The emergency occurred when he was returning to his Haast base after a 90-minute, relatively low-altitude survey of wild deer, carried out on behalf of his company, Snowline Safaris.
For some reason, the machine's emergency radio beacon did not activate on impact.
After his unexpected swim, he waited on a rock poking about 7m out of the water.
About two and a-half hours later, just before nightfall, he saw the "fantastic" shape of a Milford Sound-based crayfish boat heading back into the sound.
Attracted by his waving, its crew picked him up, much to his delight, and "gave me a stubby [beer], straight in the hand".
He had earlier wrung out his wet clothes in the remaining sunlight before putting them on again, in an effort to conserve warmth.
Once he was on dry land, he was confident he would survive, despite the remoteness of the area.
"I'm a real keen hunter. I know how to survive."
Asked whether he planned to buy a Lotto ticket, he joked, "I don't know; I probably should."
The reality of what had happened in the toughest day of his 14-year flying career was still sinking in yesterday.
He had immediately advised the Civil Aviation Authority about the accident and had already had discussions with CAA staff.
Through his company, he undertakes wild-animal recovery operations to supply farmers and safari parks.
