Three people were slightly injured when a private helicopter fell this Friday on the M-40 ring road in Madrid, due to a gust of wind, according to Francisco Martín, Government delegate in the capital. Two of the injured are the occupants of the device and the third, a driver who was traveling on the road, as reported by a Madrid Emergency spokesperson. The accident occurred around ten in the morning in the median of the M-40, right next to the Field of Nations, very close to the Ifema fairgrounds, where until Thursday the event was held. the European Rotors aviation fair. It is, in fact, one of the models that have been exhibited and participated in demonstrations during the four days that the event lasted. Sources from the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) have detailed that the device crashed a few minutes after taking off from Ifema towards Cuatro Vientos. “Everything indicates that the pilot’s skill has prevented a much greater tragedy, because he had to make a forced landing on the M-40, but on the median, and it has practically not affected the thousands of vehicles that travel through that area. so busy,” said the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida.
Two injured in helicopter crash #M40at the height of the C. of Nations.
One occupant escapes by foot, the other is rescued by @FirefightersMad. @SAMUR_PC transfers the injured to the hospital, one with mild head trauma, the other with a possible femur fracture pic.twitter.com/SD1LPuvu4j— Emergencies Madrid (@EmergenciasMad) December 1, 2023
Spokespersons for Madrid Emergencies and the Civil Guard have explained that the helicopter, a yellow Enstrom280FX model with the registration F-HPUX, has fallen in a small green area of bushes in the median of the M-40 at kilometer 5,500, to the stupor of the drivers. The chassis of the helicopter, which has not exploded, has been twisted by the impact. A witness to the event told Europa Press that “the pilot started to go down the M-40 and tried to make a maneuver because he saw that he was crashing into the bridge and went under it, trying not to fall on the road because there was a lot of traffic.” ”.
It is a single-engine piston helicopter, the flight of which is prohibited over the city. To be able to travel by air – instead of by truck, as is usually the case, according to industry sources – a special permit from the AESA is required (State air safety agency), Air Navigation and the Air Force. The pilot, with that permission, took off from Ifema and, according to the first images and the first impressions of the specialists, smoke immediately began to come out of the engine, so there could have been a mechanical failure. As soon as they began the road to Cuatro Vientos, the helicopter began to lose power and fell on the road.
Pedro, a worker at a laundry facility next to the place where the aircraft crashed, said that he heard a loud bang. “When I looked out, I saw the cars braking on the highway and, then, the helicopter with its tail broken.” “It is clear that the pilot has had a lot of skill because to have fallen in the median of the highway…”, comments Pedro, to add a second stroke of luck: “Thank goodness it was these hours, because if it had been after the one, he would have gotten involved.”
The first to go to the site were two firefighters from the NGO United Firefighters Without Borders who saw the accident, who were followed by the municipal firefighters. Two men, aged 69 and 71, were traveling in the helicopter, and both were slightly injured, despite the magnitude of the accident. One of them has even left the device on his own foot, while the other has had to be rescued by firefighters. Samur has treated and transferred the two to the La Paz hospital, one with mild head trauma, and the other with a possible femur fracture.
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There is a third injured, a middle-aged driver, who was traveling on the M-40 at that time. The man has suffered “small, very minor cuts” caused by glass, when the front window broke. He has been treated and released at the scene. His vehicle, a white Nissan van, has suffered significant damage from the impact and has ended up facing the wrong direction, about 10 meters from the helicopter.
🚨#Last minute: The Enstrom 280FX Shark helicopter with registration F-HPUX that was participating in the European Rotors fair that was taking place in Ifema has crashed on the M40 in Madrid shortly after taking off. The helicopter has fallen at kilometer point 5,600 of… pic.twitter.com/YVgVkgcCbZ
— On The Wings of Aviation (@OnAviation) December 1, 2023
The firefighters have carried out a “risk control after verifying that there is no fuel spill.” Meanwhile, the DGT has cut one lane in each direction of the M-40 to facilitate the work of the emergency services and the removal of the device, but has not interrupted traffic on this road which, however, is being complicated in both. senses. The line of vehicles stretches as far as the eye can see, although traffic flows constantly. The DGT recommends avoiding the M-40. At least thirty people, including firefighters, police and paramedics, are at the scene of the accident.
There, the tail of the aircraft is still twisted outside the median, while one of the blades is also seen on the asphalt, but from the other direction of the highway. The front glass of the helicopter is shattered, but the pilot’s seat remains intact. About twenty onlookers have gathered on the exit 6 bridge to photograph the accident. The experts are taking photographs of the incident.
The Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission (Ciaiac) has taken charge of the investigation, with the collaboration of the air resources of the National Police. Ciaiac sources have told this newspaper that they have just opened the investigation, that at the moment they cannot comment and that their conclusions will be published in a few days in a report on the web.
An Ifema spokesperson confirmed to this newspaper that the helicopter came from European Rotors, which closed its doors on Thursday afternoon after four days of activity. It was the third annual edition of this event, which is presented as one of the most important fairs in the helicopter aviation sector and the largest in Europe, with more than 200 exhibitors and 20 helicopters, one of them the damaged. “It is one of the helicopters with which exhibitions and demonstrations have been made,” said the spokesperson. Organized by the European Helicopter Association, based in Germany, it was held in Hall 9. “It closed in the afternoon and today [por este viernes] “They were dismantling the stands and the helicopters were leaving,” added the spokesperson, who does not know what could have happened to him to end up in the median.
After learning what happened, the vice mayor and delegate of Security and Emergencies of the Madrid City Council, Inmaculada Sanz, has indicated that she has no data beyond what is known and has stressed that “we must congratulate ourselves because there is no danger to anyone’s life.” of the three injured,” Europa Press reports. “It could have been much more serious. The investigation will tell if the driver had to land or if it was something accidental. We know that he was just leaving the fair and that it was imminent,” she said.
The mayor, however, has already celebrated the pilot’s “expertise.” “Without prejudice to the fact that we still do not know the details of what happened, everything indicates that the pilot’s skill has prevented a much greater tragedy, because he had to make a forced landing on the M-40, but he did so. “made on the median, and, therefore, it has practically not affected the thousands of vehicles that at that time travel through that busy area,” Almeida explained at the inauguration of a new Bicimad station near the Metropolitan Stadium, reports EFE. . “The drama could have been much greater if it had not been for the skill of the pilot, who, it seems, has broken his femur,” he concluded.
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