The helicopter pilot that crashed in London last week was warned about bad weather before he took off, officials have learned.
Pete Barnes, the pilot of the helicopter that crashed into a building crane on Jan. 16 in the Vauxhall neighborhood of central London. Barnes and another person on the ground died and several were injured by fiery remains of the helicopter.
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch said Barnes was going to pick up a passenger in Hertfordshire, northwest of London. The client had told him about the bad weather and advised him not to fly, but Barnes was too stubborn to listen, the Associated Press reports.
"At 0718hrs, the client called the pilot to discuss the weather. The pilot said he thought the weather might clear earlier than forecast. The client said he would drive to Elstree and call the pilot to keep him advised," the AAIB report read, according to the Daily Mail.
"At 0731hrs, having noticed how poor the weather was during his journey, the client called the pilot to suggest that he did not take off until he (the client) had reached Elstree and observed the weather."
He replied to his client in a text message that said he was still coming and would "land in a field if I have to."
Investigators found that another pilot also warned Barnes about the fog through a text message.
Barnes wound up hitting a crane just after he received permission to land at a nearby airport due to the weather. On the day of the crash there was heavy fog, causing poor visibility which led to the crash.
Barnes was a very experienced pilot and he flew for 25 years and was even in some movies.
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