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Mostrando postagens com marcador queda de helicóptero em Londres. Mostrar todas as postagens
Mostrando postagens com marcador queda de helicóptero em Londres. Mostrar todas as postagens

quarta-feira, 16 de janeiro de 2013

Queda de helicóptero em Londres faz dois mortos...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/16/helicopter-crash-in-vauxhall-live-updates

Vauxhall helicopter crash leaves two dead: live updates from London

LIVE• Helicopter hits crane on St George Wharf tower in fog
• Aircraft plunges to ground and bursts into flames
• Several cars in the area catch fire
• Two people taken to south London hospital

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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."
Reader Chris Jones has sent this picture of The Tower on St George Wharf. He writes: " Can you see any lights on this tower or the crane – and how high above the tower the jib is elevated"?
The retired construction professional suggested that lights should have been visible "as air traffic close to the heliport is foreseeable". 

View of The Tower on St George Wharf
View of The Tower on St George Wharf. Photograph: Chris Jones
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. 
Updated 
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". 
Updated 
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.
Updated 
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."
Updated 
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.
Updated