Pilot dies at scene as helicopter crashes in crop field
Experts launch investigation into cause of air tragedy and identity of the sole victim
AVIATION EXPERTS have begun an investigation into what caused a helicopter to crash in North Yorkshire yesterday, killing its pilot.
Emergency services were yesterday preparing to work through the night to establish the man’s identity.
Witnesses described an “enormous explosion” as the helicopter came down in a crop field at Aldborough near Boroughbridge at about 1.20pm.
Emergency services were at the crash site within minutes but the pilot was pronounced dead at the scene.
The man had been flying the private helicopter alone, police said.
Speaking at the scene of the accident, Superintendent Dave Hannan, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “Unfortunately I can report that one person, the pilot, is deceased in the helicopter.
“We are working with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the Civil Aviation Authority to establish what the cause of that crash was.”
Supt Hannan said when officers arrived on the scene the helicopter was on fire, and that efforts were being made to establish where it was going.
He added: “It was one fatality, no passengers.”
Supt Hannan said although police had not yet established what sort of helicopter was involved, they did not believe it to be a military vehicle.
He said: “The emergency services [including] ourselves, the ambulance service and the fire service all attended, as did the air ambulance.
“We will be working through the night with those other agencies to establish who the pilot was.”
Witness Katie McCann, of London, who grew up in the village, said the crash took place behind Aldborough Hall.
She was in her mother’s house when she heard what sounded like an “out-of-control plane or helicopter”.
She said: “The clouds are quite low here today and it’s not great weather. Then I heard an enormous explosion.”
The 53-year-old looked out of the window and “black smoke was everywhere and I just flew out of the house because I thought it was an aeroplane”.
A man with two boys was on the phone trying the direct emergency services, and Ms McCann helped.
“You couldn’t see anything,” she said.
“There was so much smoke. “[One man] said he had seen it. It was a red and white helicopter.
“He said it had climbed up into the cloud like it was trying to recover itself, and then dropped like a stone.”
Ms McCann said the Yorkshire Air Ambulance was at the scene within 10 minutes.
“I couldn’t believe how fast they arrived,” she said.
It also took the first fire engine only about three minutes to turn up, she added.
Locals had told her a helicopter landed in the nearby Boroughbridge area earlier in the day at about 8.30am.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service said a number of engines from Boroughbridge, Knaresborough, Harrogate and Ripon had been sent to the incident.
They said hoses were being used to “damp down the scene”.
Police officers cordoned off the crash site and conducted a search of the area.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch yesterday confirmed it was sending a team to North Yorkshire to investigate the crash.
It investigates civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the UK, its overseas territories and crown dependencies.
Last year, it investigated 16 accidents which resulted in 28 deaths in the UK.
I just flew out of the house because I thought it was an aeroplane. Eyewitness Katie McCann describes the aftermath of the crash.