To the amazement of safety officials, Freudenberg evidently sent several text messages with one hand while flying the helicopter with the other.
The Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust said since the helicopter began flying 23 years ago, it had made a "significant difference" to many patients.
"I was standing outside having a cigarette when I saw the helicopter flying super fast towards the crane, " said Rezart Islami, a builder who was working across the street from the 52-story building.
CNN: 2 killed as helicopter crashes into crane in central London
The Shabab says it downed a Kenyan military helicopter flying along the border last month, though Kenya denies it.
ECONOMIST: None of Somalia��s neighbours is keen to ride to its rescue
In the helicopter he was flying, the pilot must transition to autorotation in two seconds to avoid a crash.
Security was noticeably increased for this year's tour, with police officers posted along the route and a helicopter flying overhead.
WSJ: Security Tight for Bikers Through New York's Five Boroughs
That low-flying helicopter crisscrossing the skies over the San Francisco Bay Area for the next three days is gathering data on background radiation levels, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Benedict's dramatic departure that day flying by helicopter from the helipad in the Vatican gardens with his weeping secretary by his side and circling St.
On prior visits, he's has hung by his toes from a helicopter flying over the Statue of Liberty, walked a high wire over Lincoln Center and rappelled off Madison Square Garden.
Police in the northern Indian city of Allahabad have detained a photographer from France for flying "dangerously low" in a helicopter over the Kumbh Mela festival.
He said a police helicopter was flying over the town, which is about 500km (310 miles) south of the main city of Dar es Salaam.
"We're trying to create the illusion that you are flying over the city, almost as if you were in your own personal helicopter, " said Peter Birch, another product manager.
The team has built a few versions of their helicopter, named after the Gamera, a fire-breathing flying turtle and monster contemporary of Godzilla.
WSJ: Flight of Fancy: The Sky's the Limit for Team That Rises to the Occasion
That's a positive sign, as opposed to flying them from a helicopter from the airport to the Green Zone and never letting them go to see anything.
Chris Yates, an aviation security expert, told CNN it was likely there would be questions about whether the helicopter that crashed should have been flying, given the poor visibility Wednesday morning.
Tales about bankers racing each other from Wall Street to the beach - with one enterprising weekender beating a helicopter-owning colleague by flying overhead in his Gulfstream business jet and parachuting out at the right moment - are thought to be mostly apocryphal.
Mr Barnes, 50, was flying from Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey to Elstree when the helicopter clipped the crane and crashed into Wandsworth Road.
This means it can hover like a helicopter, but when flying forwards can reduce the speed of the main rotor and let the wings provide part of the lift.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) recently changed flying regulations to allow helicopter night flights.
BBC: Air ambulances to fly at night in Sussex, Kent and Surrey
As we were flying over from Mississippi via helicopter, you could see the footprints of buildings that had been decimated from Katrina.
WHITEHOUSE: A First-Hand Look at the Federal Response to the BP Oil Spill
Bush evinced an understanding when it came to Israel's security challenges: "We got driveways in Texas longer than that, " the then-governor exclaimed while flying over Israel's narrow waist in a helicopter with Sharon.
Helicopter pilots in central London are instructed to follow the Thames, to avoid flying over built-up areas as far as possible.
Mr Cook said he saw news of the helicopter crash later that day, which contained suggestions of engine problems and erratic flying.
In addition, the government banned helicopter tours after Peru's Institute of Natural Resources found low-flying aircrafts to be contributing to the disappearance of a rare species of orchid and the Andean Condor.
Detroit is a city of contrasts, but no one has captured the good and bad as vividly as an unidentified hobbyist armed with a cheap helicopter-like flying robot and a YouTube account.
FORBES: Remarkable Drone Camera Captures Detroit's Ups And Downs Like Never Before
This puts it on the tail of Sikorsky's experimental X2, which has set an unofficial world record for a helicopter by flying at just over 460kph.
应用推荐