A helicopter crash onset pandemonium in London earlier this morning.
A commercial helicopter struck a crane on top of one of the tallest residential buildings killing two people including the pilot and injuring 12 more in central London. The helicopter fell to the ground on a busy street setting cars and nearby buildings on fire and causing chaos in the streets.
BBC reports that the helicopter was flying low from Surrey to a nearby Battersea heliport through clouds and fog. That's when the helicopter clipped the crane causing it to spin out of control before slamming into Wandsworth Road, while parts of the crane showered into the streets.
Witnesses say the loud band sounded like a bomb explosion and they assumed that they were under a terrorist attack. "I thought it was a bomb," eyewitness Andrew Beadle told the BBC. "I literally looked up as I heard this massive noise and saw the helicopter blades go down."
Another witness reported "There was a massive explosion. There's at least three cars are on fire...it's madness, absolute madness...There was chaos.''
"I was 100 percent sure it was a terrorist attack," said Allen Crosbie to The Associated Press. "There was debris everywhere, a ton of black smoke. Parts of the crane, parts of the helicopter. I heard bang, bang, bang -- I presume it was the helicopter hitting the crane and then the ground. People were just panicking. Everyone thought it was a terrorist attack."
Another person added, "There was a huge array of debris plummeting to the ground. There were fires breaking out. Plumes of gray smoke getting bigger and bigger."
In a similar but totally separate event, another helicopter crashes down while trying to manuever the landing. Check out video that catches the moment of the crash via ABC News.
And check out another video of a helicopter crash in which the pilot survived below.