London crash helicopter was out of control

A helicopter which crashed in London during the morning rush hour on Wednesday, killing the pilot and a pedestrian, may have been out of control before it hit a crane and broke apart, witnesses said.

Pete Barnes, 50, described as one of the most experienced helicopter pilots in the country, appeared to be struggling to keep the aircraft on course as he tried to make an emergency landing in fog.

Air accident investigators are trying to establish why Barnes, who had won an award for bravery as an air ambulance pilot, lost radio contact with the ground in the moments before the impact.

He had asked national air traffic controllers for permission to land at Battersea heliport next to the Thames after fog prevented him landing at Elstree, Hertfordshire, but he had veered at least 500ft off course.

Controllers at Battersea said that "at no point in time were we able to establish contact" with him, raising the possibility that he suffered a catastrophic equipment failure.

One witness said the 15-year-old Agusta A109 appeared to be "spinning out of control" seconds before it hit the crane's jib, which had red warning lights on it and was on a list of hazards circulated to pilots.

Low cloud which obscured the top of the crane was another possible cause under consideration, though other pilots said Barnes should have been flying along a strictly-controlled corridor down the Thames, away from any buildings.

The other person killed was Matthew Wood, 39, an administrator for Rentokil, who was on his way to work.

Police said it was a miracle that the death toll was not "many, many times worse", as parts of the aircraft landed on busy roads and a flower market, with burning aviation fuel setting fire to several vehicles. Although 13 people were treated for minor injuries, many more had lucky escapes. They included a baby who was unharmed despite a large chunk of the wreckage smashing through the glass roof of his parents' car and landing on the back seat next to him.

Barnes, of Mortimer, Berks, had helped save many lives during several years working for the Darlington-based Great North Air Ambulance, and had been a stunt pilot and camera helicopter pilot in films such as the James Bond movie Die Another Day.

Colleagues described him as one of the best pilots they knew, and with more than 12,000 flying hours he was one of the most experienced helicopter pilots in the country. He had flown celebrities including Lewis Hamilton, and RotorMotion, the company that leased the crashed helicopter from Cornwall-based Castle Air, lists David Cameron, the Dalai Lama and Simon Cowell among its clients.

Paul Blezard, a spokesman for RotorMotion, said: "He was a reliable and experienced pilot and this is a huge tragedy. He had a perfect record and the aircraft he was flying in didn't have any recorded problems."