UKC

Terrible news:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/16/helicopter-crashes-central-london-...

Apparently hit a crane on a building site in Vauxhall

In reply to mypyrex:

It was a shock to see a patch of road I'd passed over at around 0730 aflame on the news.

Confirmation of two dead so far - a sad day.

Good luck to the emergency services.

In reply to mypyrex:


Hmmm.

In reply to mypyrex:

You have to wonder if the BBC knows how to report stuff like this when the pressure is on to fill live airtime:

Local resident Sarah-Beth Casey told Sky News: "When you live next to a high-rise building you always worry about 9/11. I have three small children and now this has happened. It is a constant [worry]. It's at the back of your mind. It sounded like an earthquake. I screamed at my husband to get my children out of the flat. I could see debris falling off the tower and you knew that is where something had happened."

After 11 years of worry I think I'd move, or get some counselling help.

In reply to winhill:

I had similar thoughts about the almost constant comments about possible terrorist attacks. Terrorists would have, quite simply, gone for a high profile(no pun intended) target of which there are plenty in London.

In reply to mypyrex:

I used to work in 1 Canada Square, and it was a constant source of gallows humour on the lines of that if terrorists wanted to tqarget a high building in the UK we were pretty much the first target they would choose.

Lots of comments on the lines of

"Oh, which floor are xxxx on?"
"39th - just above the bulls-eye"

In reply to winhill:

I thought that listening to R4 this morning

BBC "..and now we go live to Dave Spart who is a commuter...Dave"

Dave Spart (for it is he) "Yes, a big helibopter has crashed into a building, or a crane or a bin wagon or the London Eye, I don't really know as I live in Derby and just happen to be the producer's brother in law"

BBc "Thanks Dave, and now over to some sanctimonious old bint who's going to waffle on about the baby Jeebus and why you're all godless feckers.."

In reply to John Rushby: This morning's sanctimonious bint was on particularly fine form I thought..

In reply to mypyrex:

On the Today programme this morning

John Humphries "We have two eye witnesses on the line. Did you see the crash?"
1st bloke "I didn't actually see what happened"

My thought "Well you're not an eye witness then!"

In reply to Hat Dude:

That will have been Raj or whatever his name was - really shoddy reporting.

In reply to jon:


Qua?

In reply to Simon_Sheff:

The Guardian article that Pyrex linked had this quote:


There's something not quite right there...

In reply to mypyrex:
...Terrorists would have, quite simply, gone for a high profile(no pun intended) target of which there are plenty in London.[...]

MI6 headquaters is about 300yards down the road.

thats reasonably high profile...

In reply to ballsac:

So, if terrorism, why did they miss the target?

In reply to mypyrex:
So, if terrorism, why did they miss the target?

2 words:

Apple Maps.

In reply to mypyrex:

its not terrorism you halfwit.

you asked, if it were Terrorism, why had the crash taken place in an area where there were no significant potential targets.

i noted that infact there is a very significant target 300yds up the road.

f*cks sake.

In reply to ballsac: Don't we have a resident contributer who is a chopper pilot? Hope you're all good mate.

In reply to ballsac:
It was NOT me who suggested it was terrorism

In reply to winhill:

No doubt the trauma will result in the poor lass being unable to work, signed of with PTSD.

In reply to David Martin: Yeah, no doubt whatsoever...

In reply to mypyrex:

Visability was pea soup this morning and I've heard reports that the helicopter was diverting to Battersea Heliport due to this but am wondering why they were allowed to fly so low in london Relative is a pilot for the London air ambulance and the rules and regulations they have to deal with are amazing.

My gut feeling (and has been mentioned) is that the crane that was hit wasn't illuminated.

In reply to Game of Conkers:

Cheers mate, all good here.
Just deep in thought about another one of us not making it to retirement. Although I didn't know Pete that well, I had met him on numerous occasions over the years and shared a few coffees whilst awaiting passengers at various sporting events etc.
It seems that the longer I'm in this industry, everytime a commercial Heli goes down, I either know the pilot personally, have met them or they are a friend of a friend, it really is a very small industry.
Kind of brings it home quite close and you can't help but put yourself in the cockpit with them at the fateful moment and wonder
My thoughts and condolences to his wife and family.

RIP Pete


RIP

In reply to aultguish: I don't know if you have seen this, a nice tribute to someone who saved many lives as an air ambulance pilot.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21049125

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3949445.stm

In reply to aultguish: FWIW As a long lapsed pilot myself I feel for you. Best wishes.

In reply to Indy:

Well, it's been reported that local residents had complained several times recently that the warning light on the crane was not on.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Terrible accident. We could all see huge amounts of billowing smoke as the commuter riverboat I take each morning into the City passed Vauxhall.

London is covered in cranes on high rises at the moment - huge amounts of new homes being built - so unfortunately this seems like an accident waiting that was waiting to happen.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

On BBC news it was said that the light is only used on the crane during hours of darkness, and that it was switched off about half an hour before the crash. The reason given was that in poor visibility during daylight it would not be seen anyway.

In reply to Queenie:

Using that logic we should all remember to turn our car lights off if it's foggy.

Watching the newd last night I found it comforting that if I'm ever injured in an accident I can rely on the great british public to form a crowd and film it on their f*cking phones.

In reply to mypyrex:

London commuters ought to wear helmets, all kinds of stuff can drop on their heads.

In reply to Queenie: It should change to a white strobe during daylight hours.

In reply to mypyrex:

turns out one of the dead was a mate

RIP Matt

In reply to lost1977:
Sorry to hear that.

In reply to Ridge:

Yes, it struck me as strange. Surely any warning light is better than none. I can't imagine it's that expensive to leave on either.

In reply to lost1977:

I knew him too - used to run the record shop I spent a lot of my sixth form in. Damn shame, really nice guy.

In reply to featuresforfeet:

i remember that shop

In reply to lost1977:

Hot Rocks I believe

In reply to featuresforfeet:

thats the one

In reply to Queenie:

It was off because it was daylight and was deemed therefore not to have much use. The real issue, surely, is why the helicopter was on that course, and not further out over the Thames.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:



Capt. Peter Barnes, Barnesy to his friends, was a good Pilot and a great chap to be with. I had the pleasure and privilege to have known him and work with him since 1997. His knowledge of the Agusta A109 which he was flying was second to none and his adherence to flight safety was also second to none. As it has been already mentioned he flew Air Ambulance helicopter (including my local one which covers Northamptonshire), he flew filming helicopters and also an Instructor (TRI) and Examiner (TRE) on several helicopters including the type he was flying. Personally he was a great friend to me when I worked with him, he mentioned he had a Series 1 Land Rover, I said he should donate it to me and he did. The last time I saw Pete was last year when he landed at the airport I work at for fuel in the Air ambulance and when he saw me he was waving like mad at me; he was a great chap!

Twin engine helicopters could fly any route over London as long as it did not bust the London CTA above them, i.e. getting in the way of traffic flying into London City and Heathrow; it is only single engine helicopters that had to stick to certain routes over the smoke including the river. The early reports are saying that he was on a trip from Redhill to Elstree, due to weather, probably Icing conditions, he decided to divert into Battersea Heliport; it was just after that the accident happened.

Barnesy, or as I called him "Uncle Barnesy", will be sorely missed by a lot of people within the helicopter/Aviation industry; there are very few people who Barnesy has . My thoughts are with his family.

R.I.P. Uncle Barnesy my old friend.

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hovering there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air,
Up, up the long delirious burning blue.
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew;
And while with silent uplifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

In reply to Richard Smith:


Ah, my favourite poem - Hight Flight by John Gillespe Magee

In reply to Richard Smith: Nice tribute, thank you for that. Sadly accidents sometimes happen because ... accidents happen.