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Helicopter crash in London
deezee - 16/1/13 at 09:36 AM

Crikey, all looks a bit nasty

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21040313

zetec - 16/1/13 at 09:45 AM

Really busy junction, and a little latter things would have been a lot worse, looks very close to the rail bridge into Vauxhall station too.

olimarler - 16/1/13 at 10:09 AM

Looks like something out of a film!!

Hope all are ok!

mookaloid - 16/1/13 at 10:15 AM

quote:
Originally posted by olimarler
Looks like something out of a film!!

Hope all are ok!


don't think there's much chance of that

David Jenkins - 16/1/13 at 10:23 AM

quote:
Originally posted by olimarler
Looks like something out of a film!!

Hope all are ok!


1 dead in the copter, one dead on the ground, 2 others taken to hospital. It looks like the debris landed on a couple of cars.

tegwin - 16/1/13 at 12:04 PM

As a pilot myself this kind of thing is really upsetting. Poor visibility is a killer time and time again. The tower crane was NOTAMd so the pilot should have known it was there... pretty close to the heli lane though so marginal vis is going to make things tricky!

The official crash investigation report will make for sober reading when it is completed.

It looks to me like the pilot clipped the crane and either by fate (or by incredible skill) managed to avoid the buildings and put the aircraft down on the road.... Terrible terrible day!

T66 - 16/1/13 at 12:47 PM

A sobering reminder of the dangers of operating helicopters at low level . The worst time of day to fly is either just before dawn or at dusk, when its neither light nor dark. Mix that with low cloud and fog, a single pilot will be working hard.


RIP

Johneturbo - 16/1/13 at 12:56 PM

very sad and could have been a lot worse

isn't there a minimum height for flying in London with all the tall buildings/cranes

David Jenkins - 16/1/13 at 01:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Johneturbo
isn't there a minimum height for flying in London with all the tall buildings/cranes


All helicopters going to central London have to be twin-engined, and are supposed to fly over the Thames (never over the city itself).

David Jenkins - 16/1/13 at 04:22 PM

It's very strange - it was a huge crane jib (see crane in left of photo) but even if it was horizontal towards the river it would hardly have reached the shore.




[Edited on 16/1/13 by David Jenkins]

mookaloid - 16/1/13 at 05:05 PM

I don't like helicopters - I haven't been in one and I have no desire to.

The Pilot Pete Barnes is described as one of the most experienced Agusta pilots in the country with around 12,000 hours under his belt.

If this can happen with someone like that at the controls, I really think the system needs looking at.

scootz - 16/1/13 at 05:19 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
... the Pilot Pete Barnes is described as one of the most experienced Agusta pilots in the country with around 12,000 hours under his belt. If this can happen with someone like that at the controls...



Pete was a family friend - he was not only a very experienced pilot, but also an extremely professional and likeable guy. I never for a second thought that he would have been involved in the crash when I first saw it breaking on the news this morning.

He was very well known in the helicopter industry and worked air-ambulances, TV / film shoots, and VIP transport. There will be a lot of sad folk today.

Thoughts also with the poor soul who lost his / her life on the ground.

jossey - 16/1/13 at 05:23 PM

Scootz


So sorry mate.


David

quote:
Originally posted by scootz
quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
... the Pilot Pete Barnes is described as one of the most experienced Agusta pilots in the country with around 12,000 hours under his belt. If this can happen with someone like that at the controls...



Pete was a family friend - he was not only a very experienced pilot, but also an extremely professional and likeable guy. I never for a second thought that he would have been involved in the crash when I first saw it breaking on the news this morning.

He was very well known in the helicopter industry and worked air-ambulances, TV / film shoots, and VIP transport. There will be a lot of sad folk today.

Thoughts also with the poor soul who lost his / her life on the ground.

morcus - 16/1/13 at 05:52 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
I don't like helicopters - I haven't been in one and I have no desire to.

The Pilot Pete Barnes is described as one of the most experienced Agusta pilots in the country with around 12,000 hours under his belt.

If this can happen with someone like that at the controls, I really think the system needs looking at.


It's a very sad occurance, but as I think someone else mentioned, when things go wrong with helicopters, it's hard to sort out because of the way they work. The more I learn about them, the less I fancy going in them aswell.

A terrible event but as Boris said, thankfully very rare.

mad4x4 - 16/1/13 at 06:49 PM

So easy to get disorientated in Low Vis with out references or landmarks. He was diverting due to FOG so may not have been qualified or happy flying in Zero Vis

Sad day for all the Families involved

[Edited on 16/101/13 by mad4x4]