Pilot 'buries' passenger after chopper crashes near croc

The pilot of a helicopter which crashed near Darwin while hovering over a crocodile dragged his injured passenger away from the creature and buried him in sand to combat hypothermia.

The incident occurred about on a mudflat about 100 metres off Dundee Beach, 60 kilometres south-west of Darwin, shortly before sunset last night.

Police say the pilot used a satellite phone to raise the alarm but when rescuers first arrived, they thought the passenger was dead.

"The bizarre thing was that they thought initially the passenger was dead as he was buried in sand," CareFlight director, Ian Badham, said.

"It turned out that the pilot had realised it might take rescue services until daylight to actually get there.

"He was really concerned that his passenger, who was very, very badly injured, really worried that he might develop hypothermia."

Mr Badham says it appears the pair were trying to catch a closer glimpse of a crocodile when they ran into trouble.

"The pilot suffered minor injuries but he was in severe shock and did tell our doctor that he remembered doing a steep turn to look at a crocodile," he said.

"The next thing he was in the mud with wreckage on top of him."

The passenger is in Royal Darwin Hospital with chest and arm injuries.

Police say the crash has been reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.