Paul McCartney and wife two feet from disaster in helicopter drama: Pilot forced into terrifying climb after brushing tree-tops

Sir Paul and his wife were flying in a £5million 9-seater Air Harrods helicopter

Pilot was not in control because of poor weather conditions



Following aborted landing at Sir Paul's estate, pilot landed at nearby airport

Air accident investigators have launched 'serious incident' probe

Near miss: Sir Paul and wife Nancy Shevell at the launch of Mary McCartney's cookbook just hours before the incident

Sir Paul McCartney and his wife were just two feet away from disaster when the pilot of their helicopter became ‘disorientated’ in bad weather and plunged towards trees.

They avoided a potentially fatal crash with just a split second to spare when the pilot dramatically lifted the chartered Sikorsky S-76C away from the rain-lashed tree tops.

The drama happened as the aircraft, with the couple on board, attempted to land at night on a helipad at their East Sussex estate.

The helicopter eventually touched down safely after diverting to a nearby airport.

It is understood that Sir Paul, 70, and his 52-year-old wife, Nancy Shevell – who have declined to comment about the incident – were unaware how close they came to crashing.

The near miss is being investigated by the Department of Transport. The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the Air Accidents Investigation Branch has categorised the episode as a ‘serious incident’, which it defines as ‘involving circumstances indicating that an accident nearly occurred’.

According to the AAIB report, the minimum reading from the helicopter’s altimeter – which measures height by focusing on a fixed point – was ‘two feet’. It is understood the fixed point was the tree tops rather than the ground.

In pulling hard away, the 55-year-old pilot was forced to put immense pressure on the engine, which can itself be dangerous.

The report also reveals flying conditions that night included ‘low cloudbase, poor visibility and rain’.

Despite this, the pilot pressed ahead and prepared to land on the former Beatle’s helipad, which is in the corner of a field encircled by woodland.

It adds: ‘While manoeuvring, the commander became disorientated and the helicopter descended towards tops of trees in the forested area to the south and west of the landing site.’ The pilot then ‘executed a go-around’ or aborted landing.

The £5 million nine-seater helicopter, which weighs 5.3 tons, was chartered from Air Harrods, which describes itself as the ‘leading London-based business aviation service provider’. The firm counts Tony Blair among its clients and charges around £3,000 an hour.

Earlier in the evening, the couple had been to the Liberty department store in the West End for the launch of a vegetarian cookbook written by Sir Paul’s eldest daughter Mary.

They took off from Battersea heliport in South London at 9.30pm, reaching East Sussex 25 minutes later.

VIDEO: Celebrity service - Air Harrods helicopter used by Madonna





Luxury travel: Sir Paul and his wife were flying in a nine-seater Air Harrods helicopter worth £5million

Following the aborted landing, the pilot eventually landed safely after diverting to Lydd Airport in Kent, 15 miles from their home near Rye.

The report also reveals that weeks after the May 3 incident, the flight data was examined using incorrect software. This meant Air Harrods was unaware the helicopter had exceeded its limitations and a ‘maintenance’ inspection was required.

It prompted the AAIB – which makes no judgment on blame in accidents and serious incidents – to issue a safety recommendation about the software.

The report does not mention the helicopter’s speed at the time of the incident, although some experts suggested it may have been about 60mph. The Sikorsky’s maximum cruising speed is 178mph.

Close call: The helipad on Sir Paul's East Sussex estate in the corner of a field surrounded by dense trees

Peter Norton, chief executive of the British Helicopter Association, last night described the incident as ‘alarming’.

He said: ‘He [the pilot] was going to land and realised he wasn’t in control of the aircraft because of the weather conditions and visibility; he pulled in lots of power to climb away and correct the aircraft to its proper flightpath and missed whatever it was by two feet.’

The Air Harrods pilot thought to have been at the controls during the incident lives in Hertfordshire with his family.

He told a reporter yesterday: ‘I can’t say anything.’ His company declined to say whether he faced disciplinary action.

As well as executive travel, the S-76C twin-engine helicopter is used for search and rescue missions.

On its website, Dawn Wyatt, Air Harrods’s operations manager, says: ‘The beauty of helicopter travel is that you really can be picked up from a suitable local site, possibly your own garden, if it is big enough. This negates the need for airports and all the associated hassle they entail.’

Elsewhere, the website says: ‘Throughout the past ten years, the Air Harrods fleet has been constantly updated to ensure that our customers have the very best and latest machines available; today we have the finest examples of VIP helicopters.

‘Air Harrods’s future looks set to continue the long established statement of quality, safety, comfort and style.’

A spokesman for Air Harrods said: ‘Harrods Aviation can confirm that an incident took place on May 3 involving an Air Harrods helicopter.

‘We are working in full cooperation with the AAIB which are currently investigating the incident.’