Mortimer pilot felt under "extreme pressure" to fly before fatal crash

Capt Pete Barnes died after his helicopter hit a high-rise building in London

A PILOT from Mortimer who died when his helicopter crashed in heavy fog in London told a colleague that he was under extreme pressure to go ahead with the flight, despite bad weather.

Captain Pete Barnes, 50, was killed when the helicopter he was flying for Helicopter charter firm Rotormotion hit a crane 770ft above the ground on top of The Tower, a residential development in Vauxhall, and fell to the ground.

Pedestrian Matthew Wood, who was struck by falling debris, also died in the incident, while walking to work on January 16, 2013. Twelve others on the ground were injured.

An inquest into the deaths at Southwark Coroner’s Court heard that Mr Barnes had been flying from Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey to Elstree in Hertfordshire, but diverted to Battersea heliport, near Vauxhall, because of the bad weather.

Father-of-two Mr Barnes was one of the country’s most experienced helicopter pilots and had flown a host of celebrities, including Lewis Hamilton and Kate Moss.

He lived with his partner Rebecca Dixon, 38, and their 12-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son.

Mr Barnes had also worked on several movies during his career including Bond film Die Another Day and Saving Private Ryan.

On the day of the crash, Mr Barnes had flown from Redhill in Surrey, to collect London restaurateur Richard Caring in Elstree, Hertfordshire, for a meeting, but had changed course at the last minute.

The day before, Mr Barnes had flown for East Midlands air ambulance and, in a handover call, told fellow air ambulance pilot Shaun Tinkler-Rose that he was under “extreme pressure” to fulfill the next day’s private job.

Giving evidence at the inquest, Mr Tinkler-Rose said: “The overall gist I got from the conversation was that he didn’t really want to fly.

“When we finished the conversation I was pretty much under the impression that he wasn’t going to fly.”

Mr Tinkler-Rose said Mr Barnes had told him he was tired of the pressures of the private helicopter industry and wanted to move into the easier environment of private jets.

He said: “He did actually say that he was under pressure on the day to fly. He wasn’t showing outward signs of worry, but he was a little bit cheesed off.”

However, he added that Mr Barnes was “extremely experienced” in charter operations, saying that “everybody in the industry called him ‘the guru’” and that he was extremely good with clients, always trying to fulfil his obligations to them.

After discussing the weather that morning, Mr Tinkler-Rose said he had advised Mr Barnes to “bin” the flight.

Later, when he heard that the crash had involved Mr Barnes, he said he was surprised to find he had elected to fly.

Asked by the coroner if Mr Barnes was someone who would compromise safety under pressure, he said: “No, definitely not.”

Philip Amadeus, the owner and chief pilot of RotorMotion – which is no longer trading – said Mr Barnes was under normal commercial pressure to fly the Agusta 109 helicopter on the morning of the crash.

Asked by the coroner if the company had put pressure on Mr Barnes, he replied: “I would say that was rubbish. As a pilot myself I know of the difficulties of flying and I would not pressurise somebody into flying in dangerous conditions.

“He was under no more pressure than I would consider normal commercial pressure.”

The inquest also heard from Mr Barnes’ long-term partner Ms Dixon, who said that he “wasn’t looking forward” to the flight because of the weather conditions.

She said: “I was a little bit worried because he did seem a bit more... quite often he would get up and go and be happy, but he talked the day or so before the flight that he wasn’t particularly looking forward to it and he didn’t know if he would complete it because the forecast wasn’t very good.”

Ms Dixon added: “Freezing fog isn’t a good outlook when you’re flying.”

Last year, a report by accident investigators showed that Mr Barnes sent and received 10 text messages during the 25-minute flight. The report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said that he may have used the messages to make operational decisions, but warned that messaging can distract pilots and should only be done in an emergency.

Investigators believe Mr Barnes may have been distracted by the need to change radio frequency as he spoke to air traffic control on the morning of the crash.

The report added: “It could not be determined whether the act of composing and sending the message distracted the pilot from taking note of the weather information. It is likely, however, that it was a text message that prompted his decision to divert to London Heliport.

“It is possible, therefore, that the pilot was distracted by the act of changing frequency as he entered the turn towards the building.”

The report also recommended that there should be clearer guidance around potential haz-ards posed by high-rise buildings.

The inquest is due to hear from 32 witnesses throughout the course of the inquest and is expected to last three weeks.