Flamborough helicopter crash victims named

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/18/flamborough-helicopter-crash-victims-named-yorkshire

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Two men who died in a helicopter crash off the coast of Flamborough have been named. The pilot was Brian Bridgman, 58, of Canterbury, Kent; the passenger was John Kent, 50, of Romford, Essex.

The investigation into the crash, in which the private aircraft fell into the sea off East Yorkshire, is being led by the Air Accident Investigation Branch which is working with Humberside police. The AAIB said it was supporting the families of the two men.

The crash triggered a recovery operation on Tuesday, after witnesses reported hearing a loud crack before seeing the helicopter plummet into the sea. The bodies were recovered at about 5pm, more than three hours later.

The helicopter had taken off from an airfield near Edinburgh and was due to refuel at Humberside airport before continuing to its destination near Retford, Nottinghamshire.

Video footage released by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) showed lifeboat crew battling high seas to reach the crash scene. The team, from Flamborough RNLI, and a second boat from Bridlington, were told to abandon the rescue mission and instead search the bay for wreckage.

Cole Ibbotson, a member of the Flamborough RNLI crew, said: "We could see the wreckage of the helicopter at the bottom of the cliff and could see where it had hit. The swell was too big for the lifeboat to get in close so we were tasked to undertake a search pattern for wreckage with Bridlington all-weather lifeboat. We recovered a number of items, which we have passed on to the police.

Chris Palmer, 33, a builder from Dunswell, east Yorkshire, spoke of his horror at witnessing the crash. "I was with my parents, we all saw the helicopter flying along the coastline. We heard a big crack and saw the helicopter start to descend like a plane and go behind the cliffs. By the time I got to the cliffs, there was no sign of it because it had gone under the water. We're in shock that it's happened. It's an absolute tragedy."