A helicopter pilot working with David Wood when he fell into a crevasse felt helpless as he realised his colleague was deep in a hole that seemed to go to "infinity", an inquest has heard.
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Paul Sutton was alone with Mr Wood on the Antarctic ice shelf on what was a routine task to restock a fuel cache.
It was January 11, 2016, and the two pilots had been flying solo in two helicopters, each carrying fuel drums on a sling line.
But Mr Wood, 62, landed his helicopter at the cache site on the western ice shelf across a crevasse covered in snow.
After getting out to retrieve his sling equipment he fell into the chasm and became wedged between the ice.
At times emotional, Mr Sutton told the inquest on Friday of the moment he turned around from loading his own helicopter and realised he could not see Mr Wood on the surface.
He saw the line used to carry fuel drums leading into the ice.
Unable to hear over the sound of Mr Wood's helicopter, Mr Sutton climbed in to turn it off and, as heard in footage aired at the inquest, leaned out the passenger side and called "David!".
He thought he heard "get help", but it was faint, and he could not see Mr Wood in the crevasse, about half a metre wide at the top. "I could just see a hole that to me looked like it went to infinity."
Mr Sutton told the Canberra hearing he didn't have the strength to pull Mr Wood out, and didn't consider using the helicopter.
He said he had no training in crevasse rescue and no equipment to retrieve Mr Wood and his only option was to bring back help.
The court has heard Mr Sutton made two more trips to the ice shelf, about 45 minutes each way from Davis, as he ferried rescue specialists to and from the site and back with Mr Wood.
Mr Wood was pulled free four hours after he fell and taken back to Davis station. But he died the next day of hypothermia.
There was a third helicopter at Davis but it was not in use and there was no other pilot stationed there to fly it, the court has heard.
Mr Sutton said he doesn't feel he could have done anything different. "I still feel comfortable with every decision I made."
Mr Sutton said moments before Mr Wood fell, he got a fright when he fell knee deep into a crevasse. He said he spoke to Mr Wood about it but couldn't remember the response.
Mr Sutton also said the two pilots had noticed a crevasse at the same cache site on December 28, 2015.
As they rolled a fuel drum over a small crevasse about 10 to 15 centimetres wide it became stuck.
They talked about it and Mr Sutton said he questioned whether the site should be moved.
"Better the devil you know than the one you don't," Mr Sutton said Mr Wood told him that day.
He took that to mean they could see the crevasses and so they weren't a hazard, and said that had made sense to him.
Mr Sutton said he gave a lot of thought to returning to Antarctica after the accident but with changes made since he felt safe.
One of the changes made since was that they were trialling new flight suits for pilots to wear.
The pilots worked for Helicopter Resources, a company contracted by the Australian Antarctic Division to provide air support.
The inquest continues on October 3.
