Paul McCartney (Photo: Live4ever Media)
Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevall were close to disaster back in May when the helicopter they were travelling in came within two metres of colliding with trees, reports the Mail On Sunday.
The news has come to light after the results of an Air Accidents Investigation – launched soon after the incident on May 3rd 2012 – were revealed over the weekend.
Problems reportedly arose when the private helicopter’s pilot became ‘disorientated’ in poor weather and began to descend into McCartney’s East Sussex estate. Potential disaster was later averted when the pilot was able to redirect the helicopter away from trees after coming close to a collision, instead landing safely at a nearby airport.
When reporting on the ‘serious incident’ which contained ‘circumstances indicating that an accident nearly occurred’, the AAIB explains that:
“While maneuvering, the commander became disorientated and the helicopter descended towards tops of trees in the forested area to the south and west of the landing site. The pilot then ‘executed a go-around’ or ‘aborted landing’.”