The helicopter struck the 181m St George Wharf Tower (twitpic from @vctrjmnz)
Two people have been killed near central London after a helicopter collided with a crane that was mounted on the 181m St George Wharf Tower.
Eyewitness reports on a variety of news sites stated that the helicopter was flying in fog-like conditions when it struck the crane. According to reports, debris from from both the crane and the helicopter fell onto the street below.
“The top of the crane was actually obscured by fog so I didn’t see the impact. But I heard a bang and saw the body of the helicopter falling to the ground along with pieces of the crane and then a large plume of smoke afterwards,” Michael Gavin told guardian.co.uk.
A further witness said: “The helicopter nearly killed me and my flatmate. We were right next to it, just feet away from where it exploded. We we were walking to work and saw the helicopter clip the top of the crane – there was a loud crack – and it came spinning out of control towards us. I just can’t believe what I saw, it was awful. When you see a helicopter hurtling out of the sky towards you, spinning, your legs turn to jelly, you have a sense of shock. My flatmate fell over, I had to run back to grab him. It missed us by just a few feet, it was just so lucky.”
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “Police were alerted at approx. 08.00hrs on Wednesday 16 January re. an incident at Wandsworth Road SW8. At this early stage it appears a helicopter was in collision with a crane on top of a building. Met officers, the ambulance service and the London Fire Brigade have attended.
“Two people have been confirmed dead at the scene. We have no further details. Two have been taken to south London hospital. We await a condition update. We will confirm further details on the incident as soon as possible.”
The 8-seater AgustaWestland AW109, a lightweight, twin-engine helicopter was reported to have been heading towards Battersea Heliport. Restrictions over London state that helicopters should not fly below 300m in built up areas.
Speaking to Sky News, aviation expert Chris Yates said “Helicopters are not supposed to come within 500 feet of any structure such as a high-rise building, so we don’t know what caused the pilot to get quite so close. We don’t know the circumstances he was operating in at the time – whether there was a problem with the helicopter itself, whether he misread his instructions or received false instructions from air traffic control.”