2013 Glasgow helicopter crash
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The helicopter involved in the crash, photographed in 2010
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| Accident summary | |
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| Date | 29 November 2013, 22:22 GMT |
| Summary | Double engine flame-out, pilot error |
| Site | The Clutha Vaults, 169 Stockwell Street, Glasgow, Scotland 55°51′16″N 4°15′0″W / 55.85444°N 4.25000°WCoordinates: 55°51′16″N 4°15′0″W / 55.85444°N 4.25000°W |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 10 (3 crew; 7 on ground) |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 31, of which 11 were serious (all on the ground) |
| Aircraft type | Eurocopter EC135-T2+ |
| Operator | Bond Air Services for Police Scotland |
| Registration | G-SPAO |
| Flight origin | Glasgow City Heliport |
On 29 November 2013, a police helicopter crashed into the Clutha Vaults, a pub on the north bank of the River Clyde in central Glasgow. The aircraft was operated by Bond Air Services for Police Scotland and was being crewed by a civilian pilot and two police officers. The cause of the crash was a double engine flame-out due to pilot error.
Ten people died as a result of the accident: all three who were on board the helicopter and six on the ground, and another person died two weeks later from injuries received in the pub.
The Clutha Vaults remained closed until July 2015.
The accident aircraft was a twin-engined Eurocopter EC135 T2+, serial 0546, registered G-SPAO and manufactured in 2007. At the time of the accident it had flown for 6,351 hours and made 9,385 landings.
The helicopter took off from its base at Glasgow City Heliport (which at the time operated from Stobcross Quay adjacent to the SECC) at 20:45 on 29 November 2013. The pilot was 51-year-old David Traill; Traill had flown Chinook helicopters in the RAF for 20 years, latterly as an instructor. He had worked for the police for four years, and had 646 hours of flight experience on the EC135. The helicopter carried two police observers, PCs Kirsty Nelis and Tony Collins. On takeoff it carried 400 kg of fuel.
The flight, callsign SP99, was initially involved in the search for a suspected trespasser on railway lines around Eglinton Toll. It was then tasked to Dalkeith in Midlothian, around 44 miles (71 km) east of its base, before returning to the Glasgow area. A few minutes before the crash, the pilot had received air traffic control clearance to return to Glasgow City Heliport.
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