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London helicopter crash: passenger suggested pilot should put off trip London helicopter crash: passenger suggested pilot should put off trip
(35 minutes later)
A passenger due to travel in the helicopter which crashed in central London suggested that the pilot should postpone the journey because of poor visibility, an air accident report has revealed. The passenger awaiting the helicopter in the fatal Vauxhall crash suggested to the pilot he should not take off due to freezing fog, investigators have revealed.
The final words of the pilot killed in the crash in central London were revealed on Wednesday. Transcripts released by air accident investigators also show the pilot was in contact with air traffic controllers up until seven seconds before his helicopter collided with a crane.
Pete Barnes, 50, died from multiple injuries when the aircraft he was flying clipped a high-rise crane on The Tower at St George Wharf, Vauxhall, south London, last week. In the last moments of the conversation between Pete Barnes and the controllers, he was cleared to divert to Battersea heliport, before he turned the helicopter and struck the crane above a tower shrouded by fog, just over 200m above the south bank of the Thames.
Pedestrian Matthew Wood, 39, was also killed as he walked to work. Barnes, a pilot with decades of experience, had been flying from Redhill in Surrey to Elstree in Hertfordshire, but requested to land at Battersea because of the bad weather.
A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) revealed that the pilot had a radio conversation with air traffic control seven seconds before the crash. Barnes, 50, died from multiple injuries, and a pedestrian, Matthew Wood, was also killed as the fuselage of the twin-engine Agusta 109 helicopter plunged to earth on Wandsworth Road. Several other people suffered serious injuries.
Barnes requested to land at London Heliport in Battersea. National Air Traffic Services (Nats) said in a statement last week that the pilot had "received a service" earlier in his journey but was not in contact at the time of the crash. Records now show that the call only ended seconds before.
He asked: "Is Battersea open, do you know?" On Wednesday Nats said the "facts remain that he was not in contact with controllers at the moment of the crash".
After being told the heliport was open, he replied: "If I could head to Battersea that would be very useful." According to the initial findings of the report, the client at Elstree twice called Barnes saying that freezing fog meant he should not try to collect him. At 7.29am Barnes texted the client to say: "I'm coming any way will land in a field if I have to."
Just 15 seconds before hitting the crane, air traffic control told the pilot: "Battersea diversion approved, you're cleared to Battersea." At 7.55am he texted the helicopter operator at Redhill: "Can't get in Elstree hdg back assume clear still."
His final words were: "Thanks a lot." The helicopter came under radar control when it entered the controlled airspace above central London at 7.55am. A minute later, the pilot asked to divert to Battersea heliport.
The report stated: "This exchange ended at 0759.18 when G-CRST (the helicopter) was approximately 150 metres south-west of Vauxhall Bridge. At 7.59:10am the controller said: "Rocket Two, yeah Battersea's diversion approved. You're cleared to Battersea."
"Immediately afterwards the helicopter began to turn right. At 0759.25 it struck a crane on the south side of the river 275 metres from the south-west end of Vauxhall Bridge." Barnes replied: "Lovely thanks Rocket Two".
The aircraft was on a commercial flight from Redhill, Surrey, to collect a client from Elstree, Hertfordshire, on 16 January to take him and another passenger to the north of England. The controller continued: "Rocket Two contact Battersea one two two decimal niner."
The AAIB report shows the client suggested to the pilot that he should postpone the journey because of poor visibility. Barnes signed off: "Two two nine, thanks a lot."
"At 07.18, the client called the pilot to discuss the weather. The pilot said he thought the weather might clear earlier than forecast. The client said he would drive to Elstree and call the pilot to keep him advised. The call ended at 7.59:18am, when the helicopter was around 150m south-west of Vauxhall bridge. It began to turn right, and seven seconds later hit the crane.
"At 07.31, having noticed how poor the weather was during his journey, the client called the pilot to suggest that he did not take off until he (the client) had reached Elstree and observed the weather. The pilot replied that he was already starting the engines. The impact caused debris and fuel to spread over several streets below, with rotor blades smashing through the windows of a nearby building and the gearbox striking a van in a nearby flower market.
"The client stated that he repeated his suggestion that the pilot should not take off," the report said. David Learmount, operations and safety editor at Flightglobal, said the interim report should end a lot of speculation about system failures, although a full bulletin and conclusion from the AAIB is some months off. He said: "He was flying visually. The story of the accident is – he didn't see it. Visibility was bad. The crane was lit.
Details of text messages sent and received by the pilot have also been revealed. At 6.30am he told the client: "Weather OK up north but freezing fog at Elstree and Luton not clearing between 8-10am I've got same at Redhill keep you posted." "He was trying to carry out a very, very difficult task in very, very difficult conditions. The question is why did he not see it. Was he not looking at that direction or was it unseeable because of fog?"
He sent the client another message at 7.29am which stated: "I'm coming any way will land in a field if I have to."
Another pilot, who was aware of the journey planned by Barnes, sent him a message which read: "Give me a call as I have checked weather and freezing fog around at the moment."