Oulton Park 18/7

[Craig]

Anyone else heard anything about a helicopter coming down at Oulton an hour or so ago? Any idea who was involved and any updates on any injuries or whatever? I spoke a while ago to someone who is there and she insists it's not as bad as it sounds and that no one seems to have been injured... but you know what these things are like when you're on site.

[diz]

Just spoken to somebody who is there. Nothing too bad - it didn't plummet out of the sky - looked like he got his landing a bit wrong. Apparently no casualties and only a minimal delay to the meeting, which was on time when the GTs started. So good news there.

[Craig]

Glad to hear it.

[diz]

Granada TV News just said that the 52 year old pilot was treated for minor injuries.
How old is JP?

[mcurtis26]

I think they said it was a local businessman. Apparently he reported smoke in the cockpit than made an emergency landing, its not actually clear if he was inbound to Oulton or if the pilot thought it was the best place nearby to make an emergency landing with there being plenty of rescue crews.

[mcurtis26]

JP is 48 btw

[Craig]

Apparently a 53 year-old had just refuelled at Knutsford and had made it as far as Oulton when the cockpit filled with smoke and he lost engine power. Apparently Oulton is a designated emergency landing and so he decided to put down there on the helipad. With no power to slow his descent he came down too fast and the machine tipped on uneven ground which meant it was designated as a crash rather than an emergency landing. With the tanks full of av gas things were taken rather seriously and racing delayed for a period until things were back under control.

Now, Mr Palmer, I think you will see why people were so uptight about you landing in such a dodgy spot a few weeks ago... either incident could have been rather worse, could it not?

[rdjones]

I was there today the accident happen about half through the VW race. Then all the red flags come out. I was out at the hairpin and the recuse unit took off with the St Johns Ambulance not to fair behind.

It was all very confusing until they told everyone what had happen over the PA. Racing was held up for about 20 mins. Later in the day I walked pass the helipad and the helicopter could not been seen from the race track but it looked like it had come down on its side.

[Crazy Marshal]

Apparently the helicopter landed upside down in a marshy area...that's what i heard anyway

[Kicking-back]

The fact he landed at Oulton was coincidental to racing being on today. He made an "emergency landing" and wasn't on his way to the circuit.

Proved lucky for him though - plenty of help available.

[motorsportmarshal61]

what i heard from a chap at oulton
he was on his way from hawarden to knutsford where he lives and the cockpit filled with smoke due to a fuel leak or so they think he came into land quiet slowly and great work by all the people involved

[Kicking-back]

woody - those details are now confirmed by the bbc.

[Mondeo Man33]

Paul and myself were first on scene, we were relieved to see the pilot out and on his mobile phone as we approached.Watching it descend we noted how fast it was travelling, and then spectators at Avenue began pointing just as Paul noticed the vertical rotor blade.

Thanks to all those who brought the extinguishers accross, I probably would have fallen over with exhaustion running that far with one!!!

[motorsportmarshal61]

i think mondeo man you should stay away from this meeting next year and its a good job the lake doesnt have cruise liners on it

[Asp]

BBCi now have the full story with a few quotes from the local Ambulance service. Very lucky escape really, and certainly a scary few minutes waiting for more information on exactly what was going on.

[S_Morrell]

Hi All
This one was a truly unique experience – one that I doubt will ever happen again (I hope not anyway).
We (the BRSCC NW rescue unit) were on standby at Island when the scramble message was issued over the radio. We were told to scramble to Avenue. Judging by the number of units mobilised (both rescue units, both fire trucks and “all ambulances”), we assumed that there was a major incident on circuit. At this stage, we did not know about the helicopter.

When we came over Hilltop, I made the decision to change our direction and go through the Fosters loop and up through Cascades to Avenue the wrong way (red flags were out and no racing traffic could be seen approaching us). That way, we wouldn’t waste valuable seconds by going all the way around the circuit.
As we were going through the Fosters loop, we were instructed by the medical car to turn around and follow them in the correct direction around the circuit. I’m sure this made us look a little like the keystone cops to onlookers but we were having to make quick decisions at this stage as we felt lives were at risk.

The change in direction ordered by the medical car (who had just left the scene ‘trackside’ at Avenue) made us believe that a car had gone over the barrier and into the crowd – a very worrying situation. As we were busy driving and preparing for our arrival (bearing in mind we were expecting multiple casualties at this stage), we still didn’t know about the helicopter.
We were led off circuit at Lodge by the medical car and continued to scramble down the access roads towards Old Hall and the 40 acre field – it was now that we realised what we were heading towards but we had to be cautious due to the large numbers of pedestrians. This was completely new ground to us so I wanted to be sure the scene was 100% safe before we did anything and asked the crew to ensure that our firefighting gear was the first thing off the unit.

We were the first rescue unit on scene – preceded by the medical car. On arrival at the scene, the helicopter was on its side with the pilot already out and being attended by the marshals, Old Hall based Doctor and voluntary first aid agencies. A quick scene survey showed a large fuel leak from the helicopter so I called for all the marshals already on scene to pull back to a safe distance whilst circuit management called for county fire brigade units to attend. The Pilot was taken back to the medical centre for checks.

I would like to say that I feel the Pilot did a great job at finding a safe landing site in an emergency (a helicopter landing area) which managed to completely avoid the public at a busy sporting event. The marshals and medical crews were also very quick on scene and improvised very well bearing in mind that this is not a situation that any of us trained for. I’m told that the helicopter itself toppled over after an emergency landing on uneven ground was on its side when we arrived.

All in all, a very unique situation but I feel it was handled well by all concerned. Hope that helps

Cheers
Si

[MikeHoyer]

It landed on the field then? Didn't notice that, I thought it had happened over by Druids, as that's where all the vehicles were headed. Makes sense now...

[Mark Mitchell]

I was at Knickerbrook when the call for all rescue, fire and medical units to "Scramble" came over the radio.

Like Simon, I thought "Bloody hell" that's a biggie!
When the radio controller said "This Is A Helicopter Crash" I went cold.

It was a bizarre situation - there were fire trucks going the wrong way round the track (One of the fire trucks was in the process of already extinguishing a blazing VW) - Rescue Units, Ambulances, Fast Doctors Cars AND the odd racing car still tootling round.

From the initial call on the radio, all the emergency services on site must have been on scene within two minutes - an amazing achievement!

Very relieved to hear later that there were no injuries to anyone other than the pilot and then that his were only minor!
Something to tell the Grandkids though eh Simon?

[Dave Brand]

Originally posted by Mark Mitchell
(One of the fire trucks was in the process of already extinguishing a blazing VW)

Soon lost interest in that, didn't they?

I hope the police & fire brigade units who attended the incident had tickets!

[motorsportmarshal61]

Originally posted by Dave Brand
Soon lost interest in that, didn't they?

I hope the police & fire brigade units who attended the incident had tickets!

did u here the sick comment over the radio from some shall we say less sensitive person asking if the pilot had paid to get in

[Mark Mitchell]

It would have only been "Sick" if he was a Kilo 1 or 2!

One thing that does make me think a little though is.....at the BTCC meeting when DR JP had his pilot land at cascades during racing, we got moaned at by the senior people in our marshalling club for daring to protest that this was a bit silly!
Accidents DO happen - thankfully the one yesterday resulting only in material damage. I know there's a lot of "If's & But's" but if that accident had have happened at somewhere like cascades or behind the med centre (Toca chopper parks here) it's terrifying to even try to imagine the possible consequences.

[Mark Mitchell]

Originally posted by Crazy Marshal
Apparently the helicopter landed upside down in a marshy area...that's what i heard anyway

How do these tales come about?

[Dave Brand]

Originally posted by Mark Mitchell
One thing that does make me think a little though is.....at the BTCC meeting when DR JP had his pilot land at cascades during racing, we got moaned at by the senior people in our marshalling club for daring to protest that this was a bit silly!

At the Mondello BSB meeting a strict instruction was issued that there were to be no helicopter movements while bikes were on circuit. It's a pity the ruling wasn't observed.....

[Mark Mitchell]

The incident yesterday has been declared as an Emergency Landing - the pilot wasn't indending to land at OP, so that makes the situation a little different.

I do think though, that restrictions of the movement of such aircraft should be looked at more closely for those that use this method of transport to/from the race tracks!

[Mark Mitchell]

Just seen this from BBC Liverpool www

It goes to show that our own "Voluntary" medical crews and rescue guys are taken seriously by the "Professionals"..

"A spokesman for Mersey Regional Ambulance Service said:

"Three vehicles (Ambulances)were dispatched to the scene but were stood down after Oulton Park's own medical team dealt with the incident."