IC South London Press report
Emergency landing for rescue helicopter
SHOPPERS escaped uninjured when a rescue helicopter's rotor blade was hit by a fragment of metal which forced it down.
There was traffic chaos as the London Air Ambulance was forced to make an emergency landing on its way to help a Turkish woman who had been in collision with a bus in Welling High Street on Saturday.
As the helicopter made its descent, a piece of metal or sign from Coral bookmakers somehow struck the blades and forced the pilots to land the aircraft right in the middle of the road.
Workers at nearby Boots saw customers blown back into the shop as stock flew off the shelves.
Police had closed off part of the street to let the woman get help.
She was later taken to hospital in an ordinary ambulance suffering from a fractured skull. She was believed to be in a stable condition as we went to press.
The dramatic events unfolded around 1pm.
Adam Ayrilmaz at the Superfry chippy was one of the first to come to the woman's aid. He said: "No one knew what she was saying but I spoke to her and tried to reassure her by speaking Turkish. "She wouldn't let go of my hand. She was saying 'I don't want to die'. I did what any normal human being would have done, I went to the hospital with her and waited until around 9pm."
The air ambulance didn't leave the town centre until around 8pm, after a spare part arrived from Bristol.
The helicopter was checked and back in working order on Monday.
A spokesman for London Air Ambulance said the chopper's breakdown did not affect the time it took for the woman to get help. He added: "Given the location of the incident the patient would not have been airlifted to hospital and would have gone by land ambulance with the medical team accompanying her, which is what happened in this case.
"The medical team continued their shift in one of their rapid response cars which are used at night or when the aircraft is unable to fly."
A Transport for London spokeswoman said the accident was being investigated.