Woman seriously injured after being blown over while filming air ambulance take-off

Woman seriously injured after being blown over while filming air ambulance take-off An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report revealed how a woman was hospitalised after powerful downwash from an air ambulance knocked her to the ground near Southend Airport in Essex. A woman suffered serious injuries after being knocked to the ground by powerful winds from an air ambulance helicopter while filming it take off near a UK airport. The incident happened near Southend Airport in Essex at around 5.46pm on February 28, after the helicopter landed in a nearby field so medics could attend an emergency. The woman had stepped outside her home to record the aircraft's departure when the force of its rotor downwash caused her to fall. An investigation by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) found that the downwash may have been intensified by nearby buildings and a parked vehicle, reports Essex Live. Before taking off, the pilot noticed several onlookers, including children, standing beside a fence along a road bordering the field and asked them to move to the opposite side for safety. However, a woman living opposite the field had not been outside when the warning was given. After hearing the helicopter's engines start, she stepped outside to film its departure, positioning herself near a vehicle parked on her driveway. Within a minute of the helicopter beginning its vertical ascent, the woman was blown over by the force of the downwash. A family member rushed to help her before she was taken to hospital with serious injuries. The AAIB report explained that the woman had not been visible to the aircraft's commander when he warned the other bystanders. It stated: "As the injured observer was not outside their house at this time, she was not visible to the commander. She would also have not seen him warn the bystanders who were in the vicinity. "When the injured observer came out to film the helicopter the commander was already in the helicopter which was behind a hedge and so she was not visible to the crew." Following the incident, the helicopter operator issued guidance to all its pilots in May, reminding them about the dangers of downwash during both take-off and landing. The investigation concluded: "An observer of the helicopter departing from a field was blown over by its downwash as she stood outside her house. The speed of the downwash may have been greater due to the funnel effect when it was affected by nearby buildings and a car."