As the result of being sent a sequence of images cut rom the Daily Mirror [7 October] the intention can be confirmed.
It is clear from the same images that the aircraft crashed is to be a mock-up of G-OTSP an AS355F operated by Aeromega [Stapleford, Essex]. Owned by Aeromega, this is a full role police aircraft and retains its full police marks and is an operational spare for a number of police forces. I guess the mock-up took the registration sequence because there are earlier shots of the real thing carrying its real marks.
According to the text with the images the police helicopter is undertaking a vehicle chase and suffers an engine failure and crashes in a ball of flame on a fuel station and lots of cars killing the requisite number of spent stars and of course the police crew.
All very public spirited in the wake of the Cardiff rooftop 'thing' when SAEW ended up in a house after a t/r failure.
I raised the following questions with each of the users of G-OTSP [assumed to be Essex, Cambridge, Suffolk and Chiltern], Liverpool and the Chairman of the ACPO police aviation committee - last week.
Were they not a little disquietened that a REAL police aircraft from a police contractor was being used in the sequence in the first place, that a twin was crashing after losing [just] one engine and that there was no actual need to have a police aircraft involved in the first place if they wanted to terminate the contracts? Any heli would have done.
To date not one has replied with even an acknowledgement.
