212man
2nd Feb 2000, 03:17
THREE DIE IN HELICOPTER CRASH
By Sam Greenhill and Nell Raven, PA News
Three men died tonight after a helicopter crashed on moorland near Bolton, Lancashire.
Two were killed when the R44 helicopter came down in poor weather after making a distress call. The third was taken by air ambulance to the Royal Preston Hospital where he later died.
The private aircraft, which was flying from Blackpool to Coventry, crash-landed at about 5pm in misty conditions on moorland at White Coppice, on Anglezarke Moor, near Bolton.
Rescue services, including the Bolton mountain rescue team, were at the scene.
The wreckage was spotted by an RAF helicopter scrambled to the area along with police, fire, ambulance and mountain rescue teams.
Poor weather and low cloud hampered rescue efforts, a spokeswoman for Lancashire fire service said.
Air authorities declared an "exclusion zone" around the crash area, preventing other aircraft from flying over while efforts were made to rescue the three on board.
Lancashire police said Blackpool Airport control tower had received a Mayday call from the pilot complaining of bad weather before contact was lost with the aircraft.
One of the men who died in the crash was an employee of Coventry Helicopter Centre, where the doomed aircraft was headed.
Staff at the centre were tonight in mourning for their colleague and trying to piece together what had happened from the sketchy information available, said Mark Westwood, a pilot at the centre.
The centre would not comment further until the police investigation into the accident was complete.
The crash has been reported to the Air Accident Investigation Branch and police have sealed off the crash site to preserve evidence for the investigators.
Two bodies were still at the scene of the wreckage and would be removed as soon as weather and daylight would allow.
By Sam Greenhill and Nell Raven, PA News
Three men died tonight after a helicopter crashed on moorland near Bolton, Lancashire.
Two were killed when the R44 helicopter came down in poor weather after making a distress call. The third was taken by air ambulance to the Royal Preston Hospital where he later died.
The private aircraft, which was flying from Blackpool to Coventry, crash-landed at about 5pm in misty conditions on moorland at White Coppice, on Anglezarke Moor, near Bolton.
Rescue services, including the Bolton mountain rescue team, were at the scene.
The wreckage was spotted by an RAF helicopter scrambled to the area along with police, fire, ambulance and mountain rescue teams.
Poor weather and low cloud hampered rescue efforts, a spokeswoman for Lancashire fire service said.
Air authorities declared an "exclusion zone" around the crash area, preventing other aircraft from flying over while efforts were made to rescue the three on board.
Lancashire police said Blackpool Airport control tower had received a Mayday call from the pilot complaining of bad weather before contact was lost with the aircraft.
One of the men who died in the crash was an employee of Coventry Helicopter Centre, where the doomed aircraft was headed.
Staff at the centre were tonight in mourning for their colleague and trying to piece together what had happened from the sketchy information available, said Mark Westwood, a pilot at the centre.
The centre would not comment further until the police investigation into the accident was complete.
The crash has been reported to the Air Accident Investigation Branch and police have sealed off the crash site to preserve evidence for the investigators.
Two bodies were still at the scene of the wreckage and would be removed as soon as weather and daylight would allow.