A witness has described the horrifying aftermath of a mid-air collision which claimed the lives of three skydivers in far north Queensland.

Senior skydiver Damian Gerard McGrath, 56, gave evidence at the inquest into the deaths of Toby Turner, 34, Peter Dawson, 35, and Kerri Pike, 54, at Mission Beach in October last year.

Local mother of eight and first time skydiver Ms Pike, 54, had been in a tandem jump with instructor Mr Dawson when they collided mid-air with another instructor Mr Turner, who was jumping solo.

Mission Beach mother of eight Kerri Pike (pictured) was on her first skydive when she was tragically killed last October

Ms Pike was in a tandem jump with instructor Peter Dawson (pictured), who was also killed

The trio collided at speeds in excess of 200km/hr.

The bodies of Ms Pike and Mr Dawson were found tangled in a tree on a banana farm, while Mr Turner's body was located in the garden of a nearby house.

Six of her eight children were believed to have been watching as the trio plummeted, Nine News reported at the time.

An Australian Parachute Federation report found the early deployment of Mr Turner’s parachute was the likely cause of the collision.

Mr McGrath was a tandem jump master and Drop Zone Safety Officer at Sky Dive Australia Mission Beach when the collision happened.

In a statement to the Cairns Forensic Crash Unit, Mr McGrath recalled seeing Mr Turner descending with both his main canopy and reserve chute deployed, Cairns Post reported.

The tandem jumpers collided mid air with solo jumper Toby Turner (pictured)

The tragedy at Mission Beach was one of Australia's worst skydiving tragedies

'I looked to the north and I saw two parachutes out — a reserve and a main parachute dragging and spinning behind,' Mr McGrath told officers.

'I thought 'oh s**t. I thought he would be fine, that he had trouble cutting (the main canopy) away.'

Mr McGrath, who has more than 20,000 jumps under his belt, told the inquest on Wednesday that he was the first Sky Dive Australia staff member to see Mr Turner’s body.

'The helmet was quite broken, it was a heavy collision,' he told Cairns Coronial Court.

Kerri Pike (pictured) was on her first skydive, which had been a birthday present

He thought the tandem pair had crashed through the parachute when he first saw Mr Turner's damaged canopy.

'That's the only way that holes in the parachute would be caused as far as I can tell — they must have gone through it,' Mr McGrath told the inquest.

The inquest started on Monday and is expected to continue until Friday.

Peter Dawson (pictured) was one of two experienced skydivers killed in the tragedy