Vauxhall helicopter crash: pilot was anxious over freezing fog forecast

The inquest also heard that helicopter pilots communicated with the company by text message if plans changed and a number were sent during the flight.

Peter Barnes, 50, was killed after clipping a crane that was positioned on a skyscraper in Vauxhall on January 16, 2013.

Pedestrian Matthew Wood was also killed when the aircraft hit the ground. Twelve others on the ground were also injured.

His widow, testifying three years after the event, said her husband was a “very experienced” pilot and was not looking forward to the flight because of the poor weather forecast.

The pilot of a helicopter which crashed in south west London had been anxious about flying the craft due to freezing fog, an inquest has heard.

Asked whether he would take risks, his widow, Rebecca Dixon, said: “Within safe limits”. He knew what he could and couldn’t do.

“I don’t see how much more you can do than to say to the pilot, “don’t take off”.

Mr Barnes, a father-of-two from Berkshire, had been flying from Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey to Elstree in Hertfordshire, but diverted to Battersea heliport, near Vauxhall, because of bad weather and crashed en route.

“He was always polite, he was pleasant”, she said.

Mr Caring said they had cancelled or diverted flights many times before, and there was no pressure to fly as it was “just a day’s shooting”, but Mr Barnes made a decision to leave anyway.

“It wasn’t as if he was on his own in a hotel room”.

Mr Caring told the court he had flown with Mr Barnes more than 100 times over 10 years and considered him a “wonderful, charismatic, friendly, jovial, professional pilot”, and would invite him to join in during shoots and for dinner afterwards with his friends.

A keen footballer and runner who ran marathons and triathlons, he was “something of a celebrity” in the industry because of his work with a local radio station.

The coroner read an extract from a toxicology report on Mr Barnes which confirmed that “alcohol did not play a part in this incident”.

Barnes was said to have told Mr Tinkler-Rose that he would “give it a go” and have a look around Elstree making “a lot of noise”.

He added it was Mr Barnes’ responsibility to check weather conditions before flying and remembers the pilot looking at forecasts on his iPad.

“I didn’t feel under any pressure of losing that contract, therefore there was no reason to push hard for one particular flight”, Mr Amadeus said.

One of these read: “Can’t get in at Elstree HDGB (heading back) assuming it’s still clear (at Redhill)”.

Lord Milford Haven exchanged text messages with his friend, Mr Barnes, to ask about the weather conditions in Battersea as he was due to pick up Hong Kong businessman Sir David Tang on their way to the shoot.

He told the jury he thought Mr Barnes may have flown to “prove a point” and “give it a go”, adding: ‘The overall gist I got from the conversation was that he didn’t really want to fly’.