Near Miss

[jacey]

My son in law was going in to work on the train this morning when there was a loud explosion, a fireball and something whumping into the ground nearby. The crashing helicopter, heavily reported on the news today, came down close to the railway track exactly as their train was passing, thankfully not close enough to do any damage on board except to passengers' nerves. They all assumed it was a bomb!

What a shocking accident!

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is totally scary!

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

I'm very glad he's OK. It was bad enough but could have been so much worse - I'm amazed more people weren't hurt.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

We were in that very area at Christmas and so we know how busy it is. Considering it was rush hour, it was astonishing that it wasn't far worse.

The London skyline has changed dramatically since I lived there in the early 70s and the helicopters buzzing about the high buildings did look rather hazardous. Sadly that proved to be the case.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Obviously the fog was a huge factor. The crane driver would have beenin the cab except he was late for work. Another narrow escape. I feel very sorry for the pilot. Apparently even as he was coming down he made an effort to steer away from the train line. S-i-L's carriage was the one right next to the crash. He says they felt the heat blast through the carriage walls. Another few metres over and it would have hit them. he didn't see the thing coming down because of the way his seat faced but the chap across from him did. The first thing S-i-L saw was the fireball.

[athgarvan.livejournal.com]

Isn't it amazing that there were not many killed at that time of morning. TG.

[tychist.livejournal.com]

Youngest daughter's train also went through Vauxhall on her way to work. And to think I only used to worry about bombs on the tube. And the bus. And in fancy high-profile buildings. :(

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

S-I-L used to work at the top of the big tower block at canary Wharfe until last week and used to stress mildly over the possibility of a terrorist incident.

So I showed in the Dr Who episode with the Daleks and the Cybermen trashing his building and all in it. That cheered him up no end. He still works at Canary Wharf (hence being on the train at the wrong time) but no longer in the big tower.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

I was in town yesterday although not that part of town.

It's remarkable that only two people were killed as a result!