There was a helicopter hovering over the top end of Taymount rise Yesterday morning for what felt like ages -this was at around 11am
I went out at about 11.30 and saw what looked like a van load of police
driving down the hill.
anyone know if the two were related? the low hovering helicopter really freaked me out!
It's India 99 the police helicopter, wave at them
It's not necessarily anything crime related, it could be they were looking for a missing person, the chopper will often come out for that.
I don't know what happened but there was a police vehicle parked at the top of Derby Hill by Cadley Terrace for some while before I watched the helicopter dash in from a North-Easterly direction and going into a steep ascent before dropping-in and hovering in one place above their target spot. It was quite a dramatic manoeuvre, which IMO suggested some urgency rather than being on the lookout for a missing person.
I will be watching this space.
The police helicopter wouldn't fly very low as it doesn't need to (very good cameras) and it is too dangerous to do when it's not necessary. I wonder if it was HEMS medical chopper trying to land.
It was the police helicopter. This from their twitter feed:
1100 in the SE23 area @MPSLewisham searching gardens for suspects concerned in burglary.
Ah Huh!
That makes more sense,
It was so Low and circling and Hovering;
It seemed to be over Grassmount that sort of area.
I saw it, agreed it was quite low that morning. Sometimes its good just to hit them with a tweet (if you use it) and ask. Lower than usual would usual mean low cloud base, or possibly avoiding the London City Airport flight path.
Having spent time over at Lippitts with them, they do indeed have amazing optics.
Their twitter feed is a goldmine of info and facts, and well worth a follow for info just like this.
@mpsinthesky
Also some interesting info.
MPS i99 is blue and yellow, as is the Network Rail heli, but a different model, and usually frequents rail line routes.
HEMS is Red and Yellow, and does some truly amazing flying.
i99 WILL touch down if deemed necessary too.