Police helicopter crashes onto Glasgow pub

[Chris Scott]

IMO, any "tumbling-end-over-end" report would have to treated with reserve. As an anorak, I've been observing a/c of all kinds from the ground all my life, and even in broad daylight it's easy completely to misread the attitude and trajectory of an a/c - even during a simple steep turn.

What I find more interesting is that, according to his father, the Scottish Sun editor was at one point in fear that the a/c might be crashing on to a car park 250m from its subsequent impact site. That strikes me as significant.

Quote from Scoobydroo (my emphasis):
He was on the phone to a colleague in London and was about to get his the car to drive home when he became aware of a loud noise above him - when Gordon is on the phone, like many young people, it is difficult to distract him so the noise must have been considerable. He describes the night as being crystal clear and was aware of the helicopter starting its fall. He initially thought the helicopter was falling towards him and dived behind the car but continued to watch the helicopter fall. He describes the helicopter tumbling - not sure if this is what you are describing as autorotating - but he does not think that this was controlled. The helicopter, as we know, did not hit the car park but landed 250m away on the other side of a block of flats and the Holiday Inn Express and he did not see the impact. He was able to see the police signs on the helicopter as it came down and stated that he was 80% certain that it was the police helicopter that had been involved long before it was officially announced. He is also clear that the helicopter was eerily quiet, that the rotors did not seem to be rotating and was amazed that there was no explosion.

Taken on face value - and ignoring the "tumbling" reference - the a/c was initially very noisey, and then eerily quiet. And, during that relatively short period, the a/c may have travelled a considerable distance horizontally.