Vauxhall helicopter crash leaves two dead: latest news from London

Helicopter hits crane on St George Wharf tower in fog
Pilot who died named locally as Pete Barnes
Aircraft plunges to ground and bursts into flames
Several people taken to south London hospital

We are going to close the live blog now. Thanks to everyone who provided details, eye witness accounts and comments throughout the day. 

London mayor Boris Johnson speaks to the media after attending the scene of a crashed helicopter in Vauxhall, London January 16, 2013. REUTERS/Neil Hall (BRITAIN - Tags: DISASTER POLITICS) :rel:d:bm:LM1E91G1ACZ01
London mayor Boris Johnson speaks to the media after attending the scene of a crashed helicopter in Vauxhall, London January 16, 2013. REUTERS/Neil Hall (BRITAIN - Tags: DISASTER POLITICS) :rel:d:bm:LM1E91G1ACZ01 Photograph: NEIL HALL/Reuters

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has promised to review the lighting of cranes and tall buildings, but it would be "premature" to second guess the investigation into today's helicopter crash. 

Speaking on a visit to emergency services at the crash site, he said the review was "inevitable". 

"It's a bit too early to draw conclusions from this accident about this or that tall building. What is inevitable is that we'll want to review all our policies, we'll want to look at the way we illuminate tall buildings, the way cranes are illuminated, to make sure nothing went wrong in this case and make sure nothing goes wrong in the future."

Questions were raised about the strength of safety lighting on the crane being used by construction workers building a tower block near Vauxhall Bridge.

"There are all sorts of questions that people are asking now about tall buildings, about lighting, about the fog, about the usage of Battersea heliport and those are very understandable questions in these circumstances. 

"People will naturally want to know that we are doing our level best to make sure that London is protected from aviation accidents of this kind. 

"Those are matters that are now being investigated, it would be wrong for me to pre-empt any of that."

"This is going to be the issue that people will want to discuss. They will focus on traffic going into Battersea. 

"I really think it would be very premature at this stage to second guess what the Air Accidents Investigation Branch say." 

Johnson added that it was clear the accident could have claimed many more lives, but workers were now "very confident" the broken crane was secure. 

"It's a tragic scene of the wreckage of a carbonised helicopter and of course a great deal of damage done to an adjacent building. It doesn't take a great deal to imagine what could have happened had that helicopter crashed into a bus or a heavily occupied building. 

"Obviously our thoughts are very much with those who have lost their lives, their families and all those who have been injured, but it is also true that it could have been much worse." 

My colleague Esther Addley has been speaking to Ian Williamson, editor of Helicopter Monthly magazine, who knew the pilot. 

"Helicopters were previously seen as objects which 'shake themselves to pieces' - the joke was that a helicopter was 40,000 rivets trying to shake itself to bits. But that was then. Not in this day and age, helicopters are so safe that in my view can only be one of two causes. 

It's either that they have a manufacturing fault or have not been maintained properly and something has failed, or it's pilot error.

If a helicopter had begun to spin, it could be caused by a damaged tail rotor, he said, but added that it was unclear if the helicopter was spinning before it hit the crane, or began spinning after the collision that could have damaged the tail. 

"Pete is used to flying and landing wherever he wants to. The guy is so experienced he was used in most film shoots, using things like temporary landing sites on the top of buildings.

"It's a big shock because it's not something you expect to happen in London."

Broadcaster Alan Robson of Tyneside-based Metro Radio said the pilot was a pioneer of "eye in the sky" traffic reports in this country. 

Robson, an award-winning radio host, also worked with Barnes on TV shows, and said that while he would pull off daring manoeuvres, he was safety-conscious. 

Speaking from Metro Radio's Newcastle base, the talk show host said:

"He was our first eye in the sky. He was the first person helping people get home no matter what the weather. 

"The only other place you would hear an eye in the sky was in Los Angeles and places across the States. It generally wasn't done in Britain. 

"Then, in steps Pete, an absolute hero, and he made it all his own. Pete was the pioneer." 

Robson worked with Mr Barnes on a Tyne Tees show which involved flying around the North East, helping people. 

"He was a stylish, lovely guy. He could have auditioned for James Bond," Robson recalled. 

"He was handsome, the girls melted. He walked it and he talked it. 

"He was a genuinely lovely guy. I am absolutely gutted." 

The presenter had "a thousand" stories about Barnes, adding:

"(It was) derring-do that makes you want to wet yourself when you were sat beside him in a helicopter, but we would always err on the side of safety. 

"Yes, he would do things that looked dramatic but only if he knew it was safe for the people he was carrying. 

"In a weird kind of way, the kind of person he was, maybe he was never going to go out quietly.

"He was super-handsome, super-talented, genuinely nice as well. He would go the extra mile for you. 

"It's those kind of people you don't want to lose." 

AA president Edmund King said Barnes had helped make UK roads safer as an air ambulance pilot.

"Everyone at the Automobile Association extends our sympathies to the family of Pete Barnes, the dedicated pilot who died in the crash. 

"In the past he was instrumental in helping road safety as he used to fly air ambulances at the time supported by the AA. In 2004 he helped rescue a motorist from flooded Stanhope Ford in County Durham while working for the Great North Air Ambulance and ran more mercy missions helping transport the injured to hospital. 

"He helped drivers in other ways as he also flew the Newcastle Traffic and Travel helicopter as the Voice of Metro FM. "

More tributes:

Jolyon Palmer, a racing car driver who competes in the Formula One feeder GP2 series, said Pete Barnes saved his life in 2007. 

Jolyon Palmer (@JolyonPalmer)

Helicopter pilot Pete Barnes helped save my life in 2007 after I had a serious quad bike accident. Extremely sad news today.

January 16, 2013

UK HEMS, the charitable collaboration of UK helicopter air ambulance services, said Barnes was a hugely skilled pilot. 

UK HEMS (@ukhems)

Thoughts are with family and friends of Capt. Pete Barnes. A hugely skilled and experienced former HEMS pilot.

January 16, 2013

Tributes for helicopter pilot

Tributes have been paid to the pilot of the helicopter that crashed in rush hour this morning. This from the Press Association:

In 2004, Mr Barnes carried out a daring rescue of a motorist from a flooded ford in County Durham while working for the Great North Air Ambulance (GNAA). 

The paramedic who flew with him on that mission said he was one of the best pilots he had ever flown with. 

Kevin Hodgson, now director of operations at the GNAA, worked alongside Mr Barnes on life-saving missions for several years. 

"Pete was as good a guy as you can imagine and one of the best pilots I've ever had the pleasure of flying with," he said. 

"Over the years he will have flown on dozens of missions, no doubt saving lives along the way. Everyone at the charity is deeply saddened at this news. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the tragedy." 

Mr Barnes stopped working with the charity about four years ago. 

Recently, he had been flying the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA). 

Andy Williamson, chief executive of the WNAA, said: "We are deeply saddened to hear the news that Pete Barnes was killed in the helicopter accident in London this morning. 

"Pete had worked with us for many years and will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with his family and with all the families affected by this tragedy." 

TOPSHOTS A collect picture taken by a member of the public shows the scene of a helicopter crash in central London on January 16, 2013. Two people were killed when a helicopter hit a crane at a building site in central London during morning rush hour and plunged to the ground, engulfing several cars in flames. AFP PHOTO / VICTOR JIMENEZVICTOR JIMENEZ/AFP/Getty Images
A picture taken by a member of the public shows the scene of the helicopter crash. Photograph: Victor Jimenez/AFP/Getty Images

The Civil Aviation Authority have also providing guidance on the helicopter regulations. These included "requirements for lighting on tall structures". 

The authority said:

"In addition, where appropriate, very tall structures are also notified to pilots for flight planning purposes, as was the case with the crane that was involved in this morning's accident." 

According to the CAA: in January 2012 there were approximately 1,300 helicopter movements in central London. The latest stats for October 2012 state the total was 1,565. 

More information can be found here

My colleague Ami Sedghi has been speaking to the Civil Aviation Authority, the UK’s aviation regulator, about frequency of helicopter accidents in central London. They have responded: 

We can confirm that there have been no fatal helicopter accidents in Central London since our records began in 1976.

RotorMotion, the operator of the helicopter, has paid tribute to pilot, Pete Barnes. 

Spokesman Paul Blezard said:

“His colleagues are devastated. The loss of Captain Pete Barnes is a great tragedy not only for the British aviation industry but for RotorMotion as well. He was one of the most highly skilled and highly qualified helicopter pilots in the UK with 12,000 hours and he flew for a number of companies as well as flying air ambulances."

A spokesman for Berkeley Group, has given a very short statement:

“We can confirm a helicopter collided with a crane at St George Wharf at 8am this morning.

“Our thoughts at this time are with the friends and families of those killed in this tragic incident.

“Emergency services are on the scene and authorities are investigating the circumstances. We are offering our full support and assistance to the emergency services.”

A spokesman for Berkeley Group, the developer of St George, has contradicted an earlier story we ran from PA which quoted a lorry driver who said the crane operator only survived the Vauxhall helicopter crash because "he was still climbing up the crane's shaft when disaster struck". 

A spokesman said nobody was in the crane or ascending its tower when the helicopter struck

More detail about the helicopter flight

The Press Association is reporting further details of the helicopter that crashed this morning. 

It is understood the eight-seater aircraft was owned by Cornwall-based Castle Air but was leased to RotorMotion, which is based at Redhill Aerodrome. 

Staff at Redhill aerodrome confirmed it left the site at 7.35am amid low cloud cover and poor visibility, while the owner of London Heliport said he requested to land at one of its sites via Heathrow air traffic control. 

But the heliport never established contact with the pilot and shortly before 8am the aircraft crashed into the crane on top of The Tower in the St George Wharf development on the River Thames. 

Summary

Two people were killed and 13 injured when a helicopter crashed into a crane at 8am this morning in central London.

The pilot flying the helicopter has been named as Captain Pete Barnes, an experienced pilot. 

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has begun an investigation into the crash. 

Met Commander Neil Basu said it was a "miracle" more people were not killed as the helicopter crashed at the height of rush hour. 

The prime minister has paid tribute to the two people who died and said the rules for helicopter flights over central London would need to be carefully looked at following the fatal crash. 

Boris Johnson praised the response of the emergency services. 

The pilot flying the helicopter that crashed today has been named as Captain Pete Barnes, who flew for RotorMotion, a "boutique helicopter charter business" based at Redhill Aerodrome, who leased the helicopter from Cornwall-based Castle Air . 

The RotorMotion website explains that he had approximately 9,000 hours of experience. 

His biography on the site states: 

After Finishing his Business Studies Degree, Pete’s worked as a ski instructor and ski guide in Europe, later going into the Advertising Business. Fortunately, the helicopter bug bit and he moved to America for three years, earning his US Commercial and Instructors Licence flying R22, Jet Rangers and Bell 222’s around Florida and the East Coast.

Pete moved back to the UK and over the last 18 years has had a diverse career, Instructing, flying the ‘Newcastle Traffic & Travel’ helicopter as the ‘Voice of Metro FM’, flying the Air Ambulance and flying in many movies, TV programmes and adverts as both camera ship and action vehicle. These include: James Bond ‘Die Another Day’, ‘Tomb Raider II’, Saving Private Ryan and various Fastnets, and Offshore Powerboat races.

He is one of the countries most experienced Agusta pilots and instructor and has personally ferried 50 new machines from the factory in Milan to customers.

He has flown as a freelance pilot for RotorMotion since 1997. We often get repeat business from clients, who request him for both his piloting skills and his relaxed charming manner.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) have begun an investigation into the crash. 

Speaking from the crash site, Julian Firth, an investigator with the AAIB, said the wreckage will be taken to its site at Farnborough, Hampshire. 

He said it will take "several months" to produce a full report into the incident. 

Helicopter pilot named by sources

The pilot who died today after the helicopter he was flying crashed into a crane on a building in central London was named by sources as Pete Barnes. 

It is understood that the developers are going to issue a statement regarding St George's Wharf tower, but "reliable sources" are saying that there were lights on the crane and they were regularly checked and fully functioning. 

More on the crane lights. PA are currently running this line:

It is understood that there were lights in place on top of the crane, which were checked twice a day and had been checked yesterday. 

I am trying to get further details on this. 

The Metropolitan police commissioner. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, has spoken to the London Assembly:

"Sadly two people have been confirmed dead. One of those has been identified as the pilot of the helicopter. 

"The identity of the second fatality is unconfirmed at the moment." 

He added: "The Met have primacy in the incident although the Air Accidents Investigation Branch will obviously examine why the helicopter crashed. 

"We have 60 officers at the scene and extensive road closures in place. 

"It is believed the helicopter had no passengers. 

"Obviously for the families involved it is a pretty awful event." 

Katie Hodge and Alex Diaz at the Press Association have a full report on the crane driver who saved his life by being late for work this morning. 

The crane operator only survived the Vauxhall helicopter crash because he was running late and had not reached his cabin when the aircraft came down, a lorry driver said. 

Paul Robinson, 42, said the man would have been "wiped out" if he had been on time this morning. 

Instead, he was still climbing up the crane's shaft when disaster struck. 

Site workers said the man, who has not been identified, had never been late before. 

He is understood to have been held up while dropping his children at school. 

Mr Robinson said: "He was halfway up to his cabin, he was making his way up by ladders when the helicopter hit. 

"He would have been wiped out if he had been on time. 

"It was a very lucky escape." 

The lorry driver and father-of-two, from Dagenham in east London, said he was "100%" sure the man would have been killed if he had already been in position. 

The crane operator, who had been harnessed to the structure, is now understood to be recovering from his ordeal. 

Mr Robinson said he was waiting in a queue to drive into the site when the crash happened. 

As debris fell from the sky and hit the back of his lorry, he leaped out, believing another driver had bumped into him. 

But as he looked up, he saw a "ball of fire". 

He added: "I just ran. I panicked. My mind went blank and fuzzy. 

"There was a ball of fire and someone said the helicopter had come down and hit the crane. 

"It was terrifying." 

Mr Robinson said he visited the site several times a week to collect waste.

South West News Service is reporting details about the owners of the destroyed helicopter

The chopper which crashed during the London rush hour was registered to respected helicopter firm Castle Air in Liskeard, Cornwall.

Castle Air describes itself as the UK’s “premier helicopter service” and has been operating since 1979.

Its choppers are used to transport VIPs and also specialise in aerial filming with credits including Treasure Hunt, Top Gear, Time Team and Robbie Williams’ 'Angels' video.

The firm mostly flies twin-engine, eight-seat Agusta 109 helicopters — like the one that plummeted into the ground in Vauxhall.

The helicopters have been built by the Anglo-Italian manufacturer AgustaWestland since 1971 and mainly used in light transport, medevac, search-and-rescue and military roles.

Castle Air’s website says: “Nestled in the Cornish countryside you will find Castle Air’s facility, arguably one of the best in the country.

‘’Inside you will find numerous helicopters mainly Agusta 109s owned by Castle Air, and a dedicated team of engineers in attendance.”

The firm says it has been called upon to carry out an extremely wide variety of tasks, from filming in the Arctic circle to VIP transport on the African equator.

It also buys and sells Agusta 109s from all around the world, with customer bases from Barbados to Australia.

A spokesman for the firm said a statement on Wednesday’s crash would be released later today.

She said: “We will be making a statement on our website later today.”

Vanessa Ten Hoedt and her four week old son Matthew
Vanessa Ten Hoedt and her four-week-old son, Matthew. Photograph: Robert Booth for the Guardian

Rob Booth also talked to Vanessa Ten Hoedt who lives on the 8th floor of a tower block close to the scene of the crash. 

Vanessa Ten Hoedt, 32, was just about to feed her four-week-old baby, Matthew, and was looking out of her eighth-floor window at Kestral House overlooking the tower when she saw a section of the crane sheer off into the Nine Elms lane.

“Then we heard an explosion and were so happy that it didn’t hit any cars, but then we saw the black smoke and we realised it wasn’t just a collapsing crane. It was very loud and sounded like a bomb had gone off. The block was shaking and it was very scary. I had no clue as to what was going on. The crane came down just in front of a car and there weren’t any pedestrians there at that moment. Initially we thought it might be a terrorist attack.”

At around 8.30am she said the police evacuated the building and four other neighbouring blocks of flats.

“There was debris and pieces of helicopter on the ground. It was quite stressful with a four-week-old. We got dressed and left the building straight away."

My colleague Rob Booth has some first-person stories from the scene of the crash this morning. He spoke to two friends who had narrowly avoided a very dangerous situation. 

Lorry drivers Ray Watts and his friend Paul Robinson had parked their trucks at the foot of the tower and were checking in with security when the helicopter struck in thick cloud.

Watts, 45, a driver for Sheffield Insulation, was delivering panels to the new building and had stopped to chat with the security guard because he hadn’t been on the site for a couple of weeks, when the debris started raining down onto his van outside.

“There was a big bang when the helicopter hit the boom of the crane and there was another when it hit the ground and blew up,” said Watts.

“I just ran. I was scared and legged it. I didn’t know which way to run because there were bits everywhere. I ran towards the station and there were still bits raining down. You come to work on a normal Wednesday morning and you don’t expect this. There were lots of workers, 20 to 25 people, waiting to get onto the site through security. They all ran in different directions. Everyone was shouting" ‘What’s going on?’”

He said he saw “a massive fireball” as the helicopter exploded and a building caught light.

He said the crane fell across Nine Elms Lane just after the traffic lights had turned red.

“They were lucky. If the lights were green the traffic would have gone through and it would have been a different story. I feel quite lucky too. If I hadn’t stopped to talk to the security guard I would have been in the truck and I’ve been told the crane hit it. I think I’ll buy a lottery ticket today.”

Robinson, 42, from Barking, was picking up waste material from the site, and was sitting in his van when he thought his friend Ray had shunted him. In fact it was metal falling from the sky onto his vehicle and he leaped from his cabin and ran.

“I saw something falling from the sky, I jumped out of the lorry and ran like hell. The boom hit the ground, I looked round and I saw the ground was on fire and somebody said it was a helicopter. We have been told the crane operator was late and was half way up. If he was all the way up he would have been hit. I felt very scared, I thought" ‘Oh my God, I am going to die here'”.

“I was shaken up for a good hour, but now I’m joking with Ray how I ran like Usain Bolt.”

Press conference update

Met Commander Neil Basu said it was extraordinary that more people had not been killed in this morning's accident. "It was something of a miracle that this was not many, many times worse," he said.

London fire brigade's Peter Cowup added: "Our operation is now focused on the tower crane. We're doing what we can to make that safe and working with specialist contractors to assess the damage sustained to the crane. 

"In the meantime, we will have to maintain a cordon around it and ask people to stay away from the area." 

He added: "Some people were evacuated. We will allow them back into their homes as soon as we can." 

Asked about the stability of the crane, Mr Cowup said: "At the moment there's no imminent risk of that crane collapsing." 

Boris Johnson has tweeted about this morning's crash. 

Boris Johnson (@MayorofLondon)

1/2 - Very saddened to learn of the fatalities & injuries in today's helicopter crash. My thoughts are with the victims & their families.

January 16, 2013
Boris Johnson (@MayorofLondon)

2/2 - Once again when tested London's emergency services have responded superbly.

January 16, 2013

Update on injuries

The London Ambulance Service has given an update on the number of people injured in this morning's crash.

LAS said it had treated 13 patients - six were transferred to hospitals, and seven were treated on scene. In addition a reception centre has been set up for members of public involved but not injured. They are being supported by ambulance service staff.

My colleague Juliette Jowit was at prime minister's question time, where tributes were paid to the two people killed in this morning's helicopter crash. 

The prime minister David Cameron said that a review of flights over central London would be part of the accident investigation, though this was "not an issue for today". Responding to a question on the issue by local Labour MP Kate Hoey, Cameron told MPs: "The rules for helicopter flights and other flights over our capital city will be looked at as part of the investigations."

Earlier the PM used his opening remarks to pay tribute to the
emergency services' response. "The whole house would wish to join me in sending our thanks for their rapid and professional response this morning," he said.
Labour opposition leader Ed Miliband also began with a statement, saying: "I also join the prime minister in passing on my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the helicopter crash in London this morning, and paying tribute to the emergency services."

Pictures

The Tower at St George Wharf development after a helicopter hit a crane at the construction site of the apartment block.
The Tower at St George Wharf development after a helicopter hit a crane at the construction site of the apartment block. Photograph: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images
A damaged crane attached to St Georges Wharf Tower after a helicopter collided with it, in Vauxhall, London.
A damaged crane attached to St Georges Wharf Tower after a helicopter collided with it, in Vauxhall, London. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Debris and a fire damaged car are pictured at the scene of the crash.
Debris and a fire-damaged car are pictured at the scene of a helicopter crash in central London. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images
Police and firemen are seen at the site of a helicopter crash in Vauxhall, London.
Police and firemen are seen at the site of the crash. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

London resident James Harvard, a 36-year-old website engineer living in Vauxhall, asked Metropolitan Police helicopters about a lack of red light on The Tower, 1 St George's Wharf in October. He was informed that "All cranes above a certain height have to be lit, and those that aren't are reported and fined."

It is not yet clear if the crane was lit at the time of the crash.

James Harvard (@harvardjames)

@mpsinthesky Funny you should ask. Cranes have red light so aircraft can see, yes? Crane atop new tower at Vauxhall had none y'day. Problem?

October 22, 2012

He has tweeted today that since his tweet in October he had seen a light on the tower "albeit dim in comparison to most one sees". Today he told the BBC that he did not witness the crash and did not know whether or not the crane was lit at the time.

He said that in the months since he had tweeted his original concerns he had not paid close attention to the crane. "On one occasion I did see a light on the crane" he said, "but it was dim relative to other cranes."

At the press conference earlier today Met police commander Basu said that the matter of lighting would form part of an investigation. He said: "I'm not aware of those complaints but that will form part of the investigation I am sure."

James Harvard (@harvardjames)

Subsequent to my Oct tweet about lights on Vauxhall tower crane I did see a light on it, albeit dim in comparison to most one sees.

January 16, 2013

My colleague Shiv Malik has been talking to an eyewitness at the scene. 

James Whipps, 32 who works for WRN Broadcast situated near the crash site said: “I'm up in the office on the fourth floor... we hear helicopters coming back and forth all day.

"And you could hear one approaching, and then suddenly it just cut off which made me look out of our window because that's very unusual. 

"Normally you hear it fading in and fading out. And then suddenly, looking around the other window there was an enormous ball of flame and black smoke that came up. Not much noise but a huge amount of flame and smoke and then literally all the road [traffic] stopped.

“Then within literally a few minutes the emergency services started to come ... and then we looked up and saw the crane of the tall building [St Georges] had been massively damaged and we put two and two together.“

Kate Hoey, MP for Vauxhall, has been speaking to the BBC. She has called for an "inquiry into the increasing numbers of helicopters flying around London" among so many new high-rise buildings.

"The river is a kind of motorway for helicopters, but the noise of course is horrendous sometimes, when we get a lot of helicopters hovering," she said. "Maybe we've come to take it almost for granted that people have the right to take their helicopter over London at any time and I think we may have to look at that."

A workmate of a man who was supposed to be in the crane when the helicopter struck, but was in fact on the ground, has told the BBC that he was going to play the lottery because he felt so lucky. 

The owners of Battersea Heliport have confirmed that the pilot of the helicopter had requested to divert and land at Battersea shortly before the crash because of bad weather. 

The pilot of the helicopter which crashed in central London had requested to divert and land at London Heliport at Battersea due to bad weather, a spokesman for the owners of the heliport said today

Vauxhall MP Kate Hoey has said the crash should lead to a review of helicopter flights over the capital.

"You just have to think how dreadful it would have been had the helicopter landed on the huge apartments at the side of the road. We could have been facing a catastrophe," she told BBC News.

"The river is the motorway for helicopters. We are always going to need some helicopter use ... But I think maybe we have to come to take it almost for granted that people have the right to take their helicopter over London at any time. We may have to look at that."

Hoey said she had opposed the building of the 22-storey St George development.

"We do need to recognise that having a different skyline in London means that things may have to be different about who can go where. The regulations are very clear about helicopters not to be flown less than 500ft from structures and so on."

The details of the second death in the crash remains unclear, with police seemingly hesitant to give further information before next of kin are informed. At the moment we only know that the pilot of the helicopter was killed; the other fatality was in "close proximity to the helicopter". 

Eyewitness Nic Walker said the helicopter crashed on to the street outside his house, setting a car on fire.

He said: "I was awake in bed and heard a helicopter. I was aware of some funny sounds and then a loud engine noise, then a huge bang.

"I flung open my window and looked out to see fire across the street. I pulled on some clothes and ran out to help.

"There were two people injured on my side of the fire. I think one was a motorcyclist. One seemed to have an eye or brow injury.

"I ran down with a guy to check the car. No driver but we couldn't get close enough to see the back.

"I took a guy down to check the car was empty but had to pull back from fire and explosions.

"That car was later gutted by the fire. There were secondary explosions going on so we had to get back. It was smokey as hell too."

He added: "The crane operator was about to go up. The scaffolders evacuated to here told me there isn't a crane big enough in the UK to get the wreckage down."

Police believe the plane, which took off from Redhill, was on its way to Elstree in north London when it was diverted.

A spokesman for the London mayor, Boris Johnson, said: "This is clearly a major incident involving considerable numbers of emergency service personnel.

"The mayor's thoughts are with the families of the two victims and with those injured.

"The mayor has spoken with Met police commissioner Bernard Hogan Howe and transport commissioner Peter Hendy.

"He remains in close touch with all his commissioners and he will continue to monitor the situation closely."

The St George Wharf development, site of the crane which was hit by the helicopter, is 22 storeys high. More detail here.

David Cameron's official spokesman said: "Clearly the prime minister
is very saddened to learn of the fatalities and injuries in this
accident."

There were currently no plans for a statement in the House of Commons,
and investigations would be led by the "usual agencies", said the
spokesman in a daily briefing to political reporters.

Met Police commander Neil Basu is answering questions about the crash. He confirms there were two fatalities and nine wounded. One of the fatalities was the pilot, the other was in the proximity of where the aircraft came down.

Police were called by a member of the public at 8am, he says.

Of the wounded, five were taken to hospital, and four were treated on the scene but did not require hospital treatment.

No one was working on the crane at the time of the crash. Asked whether the warning light on top of the crane was not working properly, Basu says that will form part of the investigation.

The helicopter was a commercial flight which took off in Surrey.

St George's Wharf is part of the Nine Elms development in south-west London.

The police have now said there was only one person in the helicopter. The other fatality was in the proximity of where the helicopter came down.

London Fire Brigade station manager Bruce Grain says he has been told two people were on board the helicopter, contrary to earlier reports, which said one.

He said one person was trapped in a vehicle by debris from the crash, but was freed before the brigade arrived.

PA has highlighted the role of Twitter and other social media in reporting the crash.

"News of the accident began breaking on social media websites, and within minutes users had begun posting tweets, pictures and video.

The hashtags #helicopter and #vauxhall began trending as users began using the web to report witness accounts and their condolences as the situation became clear.

One Twitter user wrote: "Passed by #helicopter crash scene in #vauxhall, horrible. Could've been a lot worse if crashed on station or railway."

Another said: "Jesus, just saw a helicopter crash into a crane on top of St George Tower in Vauxhall. Knocked the top of the crane off. Hope no one's hurt."

One user posted a picture of the tower, with dark black smoke billowing into the sky, and wrote: "Helicopter just hit a crane and crashed a few metres in front of me in vauxhall. Completely shaken."

Other pictures posted online showed emergency services vehicles surrounding a large fire. Footage shot on a mobile phone showed an entire road blocked by burning wreckage and aviation fuel.

A spokesman for Gatwick later said the helicopter had not flown from the Sussex airport, contrary to earlier reports.

London Fire Brigade said its fire boat was doing precautionary checks of the River Thames.

Plenty of people are saying it was fortunate there were not more fatalities given the location of the crash, near a supermarket, bus station and rail line into Waterloo. The shift on the St George's Wharf site was due to begin at 8am.

This from ismoore who commented on this story this morning.

"Living in the area, I have to say that it has been lucky that the number of casualties have been low considering the location. It is next to a disused petrol station, the bridge you see is a busy rail line into waterloo, just the other side of that bridge is a large supermarket, itself with a petrol station (and we are talking no more than 50 metres), the road itself is usually very congested at that time of the morning in that area.

"It is very densely populated with large housing estates on either side of the road, and the St Georges Wharf estate has a very high population.
There is also New Covent Garden, which will be busy at that time of the morning with traders."

A spokesman for London Ambulance Service said four patients were treated at the scene for shock.

He said: "We have treated five patients for minor injuries and three of them were taken to St Thomas's Hospital and two - a man and a woman - were taken to King's College Hospital.

"We are treating four patients on scene for shock."

From the Guardian's James Walsh, this photo was taken this morning and gives good indication of the conditions leading up to the crash.

The Metropolitan police commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, said the helicopter had been diverted to Battersea helipad, which was not its original intended destination.

He said: "It is a shock and we are treating it as a major incident."

In a Met police update, they say they are aware of 11 casualties, reports the Guardian's Lisa O'Carroll. Here's the statement

"Two people have been confirmed dead at the scene. We have no further
details.

"One person has been taken to a south London hospital in a critical
condition.

"Three people suffering minor injuries have been taken to south London
hospitals.

"Five people have been treated at the scene for minor injuries."

Helicopter routes in London tend to follow the Thames - it is called route H4 - so they can ditch into the river if they get into trouble.

The fact the crash took place so close to the river suggests the pilot may have following the river route.

However, there are questions about why it was flying so low - possibly because of the fog, which meant the pilot had to rely on references to ground features, reports Sky News.

The Guardian's Shiv Malik reports from the scene of the crash where an eyewitness describes seeing the crane ripped in half "like a piece of paper".

"Sharon Moore, 36, a mother of five, who was taking her eight-year-old daughter, Tiah, to school for her breakfast club, said she saw the event unfold. She lives on the Wyvil Estate around 50m from the scene of the crash.

“We were talking to a neighbour and something attracted us [to the sky]. It was like, have you ever seen a car and it's swerving because it doesn't know which way to turn and it panics an that's exactly what it looked like.”

She said the top of St George's was obscured in fog. “It [the helicopter] couldn't see the way it was supposed to be going it tried to turn but it didn't make it and it ripped the scaffolding [crane] in half like a piece of paper. But you could see the helicopter was distressed before it got to the building. We were watching it unfolding.”

“You couldn't see the light on the top [of the building]. It was like it [ the helicopter] was blinded. You could see that it didn't know which way to turn and it just sliced in to the building. And it sounded like – you know that sound when someone drags their nails down a blackboard but it was even worse. I was like a screeching...It was slicing into the metal of the tower.”

She said the chopper fell to the ground instantly. “It just dropped. You know, its like when you just let go of something it just dropped.”

“The other half of the crane fell, that was the second bang. There were four bangs, the helicopter, the crane then two cars exploded. It was horrendous.

She said it took minutes for the police to arrive.

London Fire Brigade station manager Bruce Grain, one of first firefighters at the scene, said it "was absolute chaos" but he revealed the fire was put out within 20 minutes.

Eight fire engines, four fire rescue units and around 60 firefighters plus officers attended the scene of the crash, a few hundred yards from MI6, on a busy road.

Firefighters rescued a man from a burning car and brought a blaze caused by the crash under control.

Four fire engines and two fire rescue units also attended reports of a crane in a precarious position. The brigade was called at 8am.

The crane was on top of a building called The Tower in the St George Wharf development, and is billed as one of Europe's tallest residential towers.

Data on helicopter flights over London, from Guardian deputy editor Ian Katz. Find the link here.

ian katz (@iankatz1000)

Interesting data on helicopter flights over Londonhttp://bit.ly/X5Xovg

January 16, 2013

Further reports from the scene suggest the crane operator was running late and not yet on their way up the crane.

A news conference will be held by all the emergency services at 11.30am.

This from the Guardian's Shiv Malik on the scene.

"Sharon Moore, mother of a nine-year-old child, told the Guardian that she witnessed the helicopter in the air in 'a distressed state' as it approached the St George's Wharf development.

"It then slammed into the tower 'slicing into the crane' and then dropped to the ground. She believes she was one of the first to call the police and 'they responded in minutes.'"

The Metropolitan police commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, said there were 11 casualties, with two dead, one person critically ill, and others "less seriously injured".

A construction worker on the scene said today was the first time he had seen a helicopter flying on the south side of the crane, reports Jill Treanor.

"I heard a big bang. I looked up and I saw the crane was disintegrating," said the construction worker, who did not want to give their name.

"The helicopter was flying towards us (on Vauxhall Bridge Road) and went flying off the building.

"It was the first time I'd seen a helicopter fly this side the crane, they usually fly along the river. I ran for my life. It is the most horrific thing I've ever seen in my life."

The crane operator was on his way up to the top when the helicopter hit, reports the Guardian's Jill Treanor, who is at the scene of the crash.

"From Vauxhall Bridge the extent of the damage is clear. The arm of the
crane is gone.

"I'm told the shifts start at 8 and the driver was on his way up - it is 51 storeys - when the helicopter hit."

Guardian reporter Robert Booth has spoken to an eyewitness who reported seeing the helicopter coming "very fast" from the south-east, hitting the crane and spinning around in a ball of smoke.

Construction worker Rezart Islami said: "I saw the helicopter come from the south-east direction very fast, it just went bang into the crane.

"The crane's arm broke off straight away and the helicopter was sent spinning around in a ball of smoke.

"I ran straight around to see what was happening. It was very worrying. I had never seen anything like this in my life. "

Islami, 28, said the helicopter was black and the top of the crane was completely covered in dense cloud at the time of the collision. The crane's arm was pointing towards the south or south-west, over nearby roads, he said.

Of the two fatalities, one of them was travelling in the helicopter, according to Sky News.

Air investigators will seek answers to a series of key questions as they begin their inquiry into the crash.

There are strict rules governing helicopter flights in the capital and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) team will want to know if proper procedures were followed.

Pilots flying helicopters over London are subject to air traffic control clearance.

If they are flying over central London they must have twin-engined aircraft. Those flying one-engined aircraft must follow the route of the River Thames when operating in the capital.

Visibility over central London was poor enough to cause delays at London City Airport in London Docklands today.

If conditions are poor, helicopters might only be able to operate if the pilot was qualified to fly his aircraft by instruments only.

All those flying helicopters in London would have to follow a set series of routes laid down by the Civil Aviation Authority.

The London heliport is at Battersea in south-west London and there is also a heliport at Ascot in Berkshire.

Here is a map of helicopter routes over London. Today's crash was near the Battersea helipad.

Summary

Here's an update of what we know so far.

Two people have been confirmed dead after a helicopter crashed into a crane in central London.

The helicopter hit the crane on the St George Wharf development in Vauxhall in thick fog shortly after 8am.

Eyewitnesses described seeing the aircraft hit the crane and then plunge to the ground and burst into flames.

Several cars in the area caught fire and two people have been taken to a south London hospital.

Offices around the area were evacuated and all public transport in the Vauxhall area halted with the crane said to be in a precarious position after this morning's collision.

There is no suggestion at this stage of terrorism.

Lifeboat crews are searching the Thames after the possible sighting of someone in the river after this morning's crash.

Here is one of the first images of what remains of the crane after it was hit by the helicopter.

Katy Moon (@Oog)

Here's a very clear picture of the crane at #vauxhall, taken by a friend on facebook (@steph_lee, was Lik there?) twitter.com/Oog/status/291…

January 16, 2013

Offices are being evacuated around the scene of the accident. The crane is said to be in a "precarious position".

Here is the full statement from the Metropolitan police.

"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 a south London hospital. We await a
condition update.

"We will confirm further details on the incident as soon as possible."

Along with two fatalities, two other people have been taken to a south London hospital, say police.

More video of the aftermath of the incident, and an eyewitness account by former BBC producer Paul Lambert

BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews)

VIDEO: Street filled with flames after fatal #helicopter crash in #Vauxhall in London bbc.in/10aq8du

January 16, 2013

The BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, says there is no suggestion at this stage of terrorism.

Frank Gardner (@FrankRGardner)

Met Police tell BBC no suggestion at this stage that Vauxhall helicopter crash and explosion was act of terrorism.

January 16, 2013

The Guardian's City editor, Jill Treanor, reports it is "oddly quiet" in Vauxhall station.

"Customers ... are being told there is no service because
of a 'serious incident' and being told to walk over the bridge to
Victoria. It is oddly quiet and the police tapes are still being put up.

"And the police are closing more roads pushing the public back to the
lights at the corner of Vauxhall Bridge. There are lots of construction workers from the St George's firm. They tell me they have been evacuated from their site."

Two people have been confirmed dead in the helicopter crash in central London, Scotland Yard said.

"Horrible scenes" for commuters coming into work, according to the Guardian's football editor.

Mike Adamson (@mikeadamson11)

Horrible scenes at Vauxhall. Trains going right past where charred helicopter fell to ground. Top of crane barely visible due to low cloud

January 16, 2013

More information on the scene of the accident. The crane was on top of a building called The Tower, in the St George Wharf development, and is billed to be one of Europe's tallest residential towers.

The building is only a few hundred metres from MI6 and is situated on a busy roundabout.

Eyewitness Michael Gavin saw the accident while he was standing at Vauxhall station.

"I was facing the building when it happened and I heard a loud bang," he told BBC News.

"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."

Chris Yates, an independent aviation expert, told Sky News: "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."

Here is the latest video of this morning's accident in an extremely foggy London

Vauxhall station is closed as a result of the crash.

South West Trains (@SW_Trains)

VAUXHALL station has been CLOSED. Trains are running but will NOT STOP at Vauxhall to pick up or drop off passengers. Please ReTweet

January 16, 2013

Eyewitness Michael Krumstets was walking on his way to work when he saw the helicopter hit the crane and come hurtling towards him, landing feet away on the ground.

"The helicopter nearly killed me and my flatmate," he told me. "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."

Krumstets, 45, who works in a courier dispatch company in central London, said: "Nobody would have got out of there alive. It would have been impossible. It hit the crane and then it hit the building. It crashed on one side of the road and we were in the other.

"Someone else was in shock, they had come off their bike, we ran back to help them and give them water. Suddenly you are in the middle of this nightmare that just happened in front of you. You are going to work in the morning and suddenly this thing comes out of the blue."

Sarah-Beth Casey, who lives in a flat near the incident, told Sky News: "You're always worried about things like 9/11 and things like that. I have three small children with me in the flat. It's one of your fears that something like this can happen.

"When I heard the explosion - it was like a little earthquake ... a gas explosion. I looked up to see debris falling off the tower."

Serious traffic congestion in that part of London, as you would imagine.

The A202 in Vauxhall was closed southbound between Vauxhall Cross and the A3212 at Millbank junction.

Other congested stretches of road were the A202 Harleyford Road from A203 South Lambeth Road and the A203 South Lambeth Road.

South West Trains reported that Vauxhall main line station had been closed. Trains were running through the station but not picking up or dropping off passengers.

Sky sources say one person was on the helicopter.

Eyewitnesses said cars on the ground were set on fire by burning fuel from the helicopter. Two cars were hit.

The London fire brigade said 22 appliances are at the scene.

More images from this morning's crash in central London. There are no reports so far of casualties.

More eyewitness reports: Erin Rogers, who was waiting at a bus stop outside Vauxhall station, told BBC News: "It was a bit surreal actually. I just had a coffee in my hand, I looked up, heard a bang and saw bits of crane debris falling to the floor.

"Then the helicopter was in flames. The rest of the people at the bus station were looking on going: 'What was that?'.

"It's something I will never forget for a long time."

Here is video of the aftermath of the crash that has just been posted on YouTube.

The helicopter is an Agusta 109, according to reports.

Paul Ferguson, who was working in an office near the incident, told BBC News: "There was a flash and the helicopter plunged to the ground. It exploded and you can imagine the smoke coming out of it.

"It was probably heading from the nearby heliport. It may be that on this misty morning the lights on nearby St George's Tower weren't on and it moved and clipped the edge of the crane and lost control."

Eyewitness Chris Matthison told BBC News: "There was some damage to the crane. It's possible the crane is lying across Nine Elms Road.
"The top of the nearest building is steeped in mist and difficult to see."

He added: "I heard a very unusual dull thud, then there was silence. The silence really took my imagination. Emergency services responded very quickly."

Commuter Sherna Noah described seeing a "large plume of dark grey smoke" as she crossed Battersea Bridge at around 8am.

She said: "I was coming across the bridge and basically I could see a few cyclists on the bridge looking towards the water.

"I looked over to see what they were looking at and could see a pall of grey smoke coming from the south side. You could see a large plume of dark grey smoke."

Eyewitnesses said the helicopter appeared to have hit a crane on a newly-built tower block on the south bank of the Thames at Vauxhall Cross.

A helicopter has crashed in central London near the River Thames at Vauxhall.

The aircraft hit a crane and cartwheeled before bursting into flames, according to reports. 

Other reports on Twitter said it had crashed close to a railway line, with pictures posted on Twitter of burning wreckage in the road.

Two cars were also said to have been involved in the incident.

Emergency services said they had received "lots of calls" as a plume of smoke billowed into the sky above the capital.

Pictures posted on Twitter purport to show the scene of the crash. These cannot be verified yet, but we have reporters on the way there.

We will have live updates as we find out more here.

Nic Walker (@nic0)

The remains of the helicopter fuel. It ditched into the building on the left. twitter.com/nic0/status/29…

January 16, 2013
Victor Jimenez (@vctrjmnz)

A helicopter crashed minutes ago on Wandsworth road twitter.com/vctrjmnz/statu…

January 16, 2013
Quin (@QuinMurray)

Helicopter just hit a crane and crashed a few metres in front of me in vauxhall. Completely shaken. twitter.com/QuinMurray/sta…

January 16, 2013
Craig Jenner (@craiglet)

Helicopter just hit our building in vauxhall twitter.com/craiglet/statu…

January 16, 2013