The pair should have been in the cabin when disaster struck, sending burning debris cascading 700ft on to the rush-hour streets of London below.
Instead, Richard Moule and his colleague Nicki Biagioni were late for work – both had overslept for the first time in years – and missed death by minutes.
The crash, which happened at 8am yesterday in fog, claimed two lives, including that of the helicopter pilot, and left 12 injured. But police said it was ‘a miracle’ that the toll was not higher after the helicopter sliced through the crane ‘as if it was a piece of paper’, scattering wreckage over the streets of Vauxhall, South London.
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‘It was the first time I’ve been late since starting this job three years ago. I just woke up late. Call it divine intervention if you like.
‘I went in on my motorcycle and got there about 7.45am. I was in the basement ready to go up when it happened.
‘The first thing I did was call my wife Stephanie and tell her, “You’ll be hearing about this but I’m OK”. She gave me a big hug when I got back home.’
Mr Biagioni’s wife Leanna said that her husband, a father of three, had also overslept.
She said: ‘He overslept this morning, something he never does and was late for work. He was not up the crane when it hit.
Chaotic
commute: Thick smoke rises from the burning debris which fell in the
middle of a road. Emergency services personnel can be seen flocking to
the crash site
Street
of flames: An inferno rages near the crash site and encroaches on a
car, after a river of aviation fuel from the downed helicopter caught
light
The
aftermath: A crumpled piece of metal lays on the floor. Witnesses
described hearing a loud bang and seeing a flash of light as the
helicopter collided with the high-rise crane
The
destruction happened near one of London's busiest transport hubs.
Several key roads were closed off, causing commuter chaos, as the
emergency services battled fires
‘I thank his guardian
angel.’ Mr Biagioni, 30, who is the principal crane operator, was over
an hour late for work. Friends said he was normally woken by his three
children – sons Rocco, six, four-year-old Dino, and Luca, two – but
yesterday they had slept in.He was just arriving at the site on his motorbike and driving down a ramp to park in front of the crane as the helicopter hit.
Witnesses described hearing a loud bang and seeing a flash of light as the helicopter collided with the high-rise crane on top of Britain’s tallest residential skyscraper, the St George Tower.
Pete Barnes, who has piloted helicopters for movies such as the James Bond film Die Another Day, was alone in the aircraft amid thick cloud when it clipped the structure.
The AgustaWestland 109 Power hurtled to the ground and exploded into flames yards from Vauxhall Station, claiming the lives of Mr Barnes and another person on the ground, who was named last night as 39-year-old Matthew Wood from Sutton, South London.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said there could easily have been many more fatalities, given the close proximity of the crash scene to one of the capital’s busiest transport hubs, Vauxhall Station, a major supermarket and the headquarters of MI6.
‘It could have been much worse,’ he said.
Commander Neil Basu, of the Metropolitan Police, said: ‘It was something of a miracle that this was not many, many times worse.’
Dramatic
video footage and photos of the crash, described by terrified witnesses
as being like a 'disaster movie', were uploaded onto the internet,
showing images of blazes and chaos
The
streets were flooded with emergency services trying to help the injured
and put out the flames, as police officers were in disbelief that more
people had not been hurt in the collision
Several key roads were closed off, causing commuter chaos, as the emergency services battled fires. Initial fears of a possible terrorist attack were quickly discounted.
Yesterday accident investigators were probing claims by witnesses that a light on top of the crane may not have working or clearly visible. It also emerged that pilots had been warned of the existence of the crane by the aviation authorities.
Last night at his home in Harlow, Essex, Mr Moule’s two young children were repeatedly telling him: ‘I love you, I love you.’
Mr Moule said that he had no idea what he was supposed to do about reporting for work today.
‘I’m just waiting for them to ring me and let me know,’ he said. ‘They’re more concerned about what happened.’
His sister Charlotte, 22, wrote on Twitter: ‘Maybe there is a God up there! That was my brother’s crane and he was late for work today!’
A friend of Mr Biagioni, who lives in Loughton, Essex, said that he was ‘devastated’ for the families of those who died.
He said: ‘He’s got three little kids. I spoke to him earlier on, he’s devastated about what was happened, but is obviously so relieved that he survived.
‘It’s a miracle that he not only lived, but was not hurt.’
Mr Biagioni has been told not to go in to work today. He may now lose his job on the site because the crane is inoperable.
The
helicopter crashed into a crane at the top of St George Wharf Tower
yesterday morning and plunged into rush hour traffic below. Two people
lost their lives in the incident
Emergency
services arrive as smoke pours from the burning debris of a helicopter
which crashed in the Vauxhall area after the aircraft hit a crane
attached to the nearby St Georges Wharf Tower
Fuel: The helicopter fuel caught light and threatened houses on the street as blazes ripped through the area during rush hour
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