Alert as helicopter takes off with damaged door (From Darlington and Stockton Times)
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Alert as helicopter takes off with damaged door
10:19am Wednesday 17th October 2012 in News
A GREAT North Air Ambulance helicopter sparked a minor emergency response yesterday after damaging a door.
The aircraft landed at Durham Tees Valley Airport, near Darlington, at about 8am, when its crew found the door of the helicopter to be unsafe just after take-off.
The helicopter was not on an emergency call and was due to land at the airport.
There were no patients onboard and no crew members were injured.
Firefighters, ambulance crews and police were called to the airport, but were immediately stood down.
A replacement door was quickly installed and the helicopter was back in operation as normal later in the day.
A Great North Air Ambulance spokesman said that despite the incident, the service maintained a full presence across the region while repairs were carried out.
He said: “A replacement door was delivered by our maintenance contractor in Leeds and was immediately fitted and fully tested.
“The aircraft’s doctor and paramedic crew were on standby in our rapid response vehicle, while our Pride of Cumbria aircraft, based near Penrith, Cumbria, was also ready if needed.”
A.Smith 71 says...
12:31pm Wed 17 Oct 12
The helicopter took off and the crew realised the door was not shut properly so they landed again at the airport where they were due to land!
Why did they need firefighters, ambulance crew and police on the scene?
Surely it was down to the crew to inspect before take off and when the door did not shut correctly then not even take off?
Another waste of space story by the Northern Echo and a waste of tax payers money to scramble the emergency services for a broken door.
Next time my car door does not shut I will just dial 999 and tell them I have a minor emergency in the hope all emergency services are scrambled just for the AA to fix the problem.