TWIN SQUIRREL IN SEVERAL FATAL ACCIDENTS...
The Twin Squirrel is a popular helicopter, used by police forces and private charter companies.
It was made by the Franco-German company Eurocopter which is now part of the European planemaking group EADS.
The company, which was created in 1992, was rebranded as Airbus Helicopters – part of the Airbus Group – in January 2014.
First flown in 1979, the Twin Squirrel is the two-engined version of the originally-named one-engine Ecureuil (French for squirrel).
The Squirrel name was soon adopted for both the one-engined and two-engined versions of the aircraft, with the Twin Squirrel becoming known as the Twin Star in America.
It can accommodate a pilot and five passengers and is nearly 13 metres long. Capable of cruising speeds up to 160mph, it has a range of more than 400 miles.
The aircraft has been used by police in the UK as well as law enforcement authorities in Australia, Brazil, Morocco, the Philippines and America.
Here follows a list of fatal incidents involving the Twin Squirrel: April 8, 1986 – Swalcliffe near Banbury, Oxfordshire: The pilot reported engine failure before the helicopter was seen descending into a field and catching fire. All six occupants died in the incident. October 22, 1996 – near Middlewich in Cheshire: Chelsea Football Club Vice Chairman Matthew Harding and his four travelling companions died when the Twin Squirrel helicopter carrying them from the Coca Cola Cup tie at Bolton Wanderers plunged into farmland and burst into flames. July 26 1998 – Near Rochester Airport: Paramedics Tony Richardson and Mark Darby, and pilot Captain Graham Budden, for Kent Air Ambulance, died when their Twin Squirrel helicopter collided with electric power cables. May 1, 2007 – Near Thornhaugh, Peterborough: Chelsea vice-president Philip Carter, his son Andrew, businessman Jonathan Waller and pilot Stephen Holdich died when their Twin Squirrel helicopter crashed in woodland.
September 15 , 2007 – Lanark, Scotland: Champion rally driver Colin McRae, his five-year-old son Johnny and the boy’s friend Ben Porcelli, six, died when his Twin Squirrel helicopter crashed in the grounds of his home.