Extract from BBC website today;-
A pilot whose helicopter crashed in Midlothian has told a court he had to make a precautionary landing because his destination was covered in cloud.
Iain Grindlay, 49, from Pathhead, Midlothian, said he had been "very relaxed" about landing in a valley - until he saw power lines.
He told Edinburgh Sheriff Court how he tried to avoid the cables and described the "euphoria" of surviving the crash.
The pilot denies endangering the safety of the helicopter and its passengers. He also denies endangering people and property in the valley on 30 April last year.
Mr Grindlay told his trial that he had taken Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace and his wife to a number of pre-election photo-shoots during the day.
After leaving the Wallaces in Aberdeen, the pilot headed for the helicopter base at Oxenfoord Castle in East Lothian with his brother Roderick and Liberal Democrat campaign worker David Webster on board.
Mr Grindlay said he followed a disused railway line because the weather prevented him from following his normal route from Edinburgh Airport.
He told the court that helicopters were not allowed to fly through cloud and that the pilot had to be able to see the ground at all times.
Within three miles of Oxenfoord, he said, he saw his landing site was completely covered in cloud and there was no visibility.
"I decided to make a precautionary landing and wait until the weather cleared," he said.
He decided to land in a field close to where his operation had been based for three years.
"I was very relaxed. This was nothing exciting," said Mr Grindlay.
"All of a sudden I saw these wires and immediately tried to avoid them. I pulled the nose of the helicopter up and levelled off.
"I believed I had missed the wires until I heard a clunk. It was not a sound I had heard before."
He said that he realised that there was a problem with the tail rotor.
"I was very conscious of keeping it level," he said.
"I could see the ground coming up, the rate of descent was arrested.
"As it touched down I felt great and then there was this almighty jolt."
He said he had been knocked unconscious after the helicopter hit the ground "very, very hard".
He was pulled from the aircraft by his brother and Mr Webster, who were happy and excited.
"We were happy to be alive, it was a sense of euphoria," he said.
Mr Grindlay, the managing director and chief pilot of Lothian Helicopters, said he had been flying since 1985 and had logged 4,500 flying hours.
The trial continues.