airpolice
I'd like to just remind you all that there is no evidence that G-SPAO was preparing to land.
They were just under two miles from base. Over the city Centre. There has been no official release of what the crew were doing there, but to suggest that they were landing is clearly not right.
From the AAIB report;
At 2218 hrs, the pilot requested clearance from ATC to re-enter the Glasgow Control Zone and return to GCH; this was approved
I think that based on that call, the probability was that they were indeed preparing to land!
Floppy Link
Going back to the SECC in an EC135 along the river from the east (and I have, many many many times over the last few years) I'd still be at 120kts+ at that point.
2 miles from base, 120kts+, less than a minute to go and you've not yet started to slow down in order to raise the aerial or arm the floats? Really!!!
Of course, we don't know if they were responding to a quick job on the way in, police radio logs should clear that one up, as would the GPS/radar trace.